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Theodore Emanuel Schmauk, D.D., LLD, 



A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

With Liberal Quotations from his Letters and 
other Writings 



BY 

GEORGE W. SANDT 



PHILADELPHIA 
UNITED LUTHERAN PUBLICATION HOUSE 

1921 






Copyright, 1921 

BY 

GEORGE W. SANDT 



DEC 27 1921 

©CI.A653285 

^0 \ 



J muet teork tlje taorbs of ftim ttjat dent me, tmjile it ii 
bap; tfje ntgfjt cometh. fasten no man can toorfe. John 9:4. 



STtie >eal of tfcine [jonae fjattj eaten me up. John 2:17. 



PREFACE 

IN presenting this portraiture of the remarkably re- 
sourceful, versatile and many-sided Dr. Schmauk, 
the author feels that very much of value has been 
left unsaid. Much of great interest and value in the form 
of sermons, addresses, excerpts and other biographical 
material was placed at his disposal, and it was not easy to 
decide what to select and what to reject. Dr. Schmauk 
explored so many fields of knowledge, touched so many 
spheres of usefulness and influence, and affixed the im- 
press of his personality upon so many activities and 
movements as to make the task of presenting a well-pro- 
portioned sketch of his life and work difficult. An effort 
has been made, however, to picture him in as life-like 
and realistic a manner as possible. To do this, it was 
necessary to disregard in large measure the chronological 
sequence of events in his life and to defy logical order 
by thrusting in here and there, more or less wantonly, 
incidents and side-lights that might add to the truthful- 
ness of the picture. 

The work of preparing this biography, in spite of the 
pressure of other tasks, proved to be most interesting 
and inspiring. The writer, though a classmate of Dr. 
Schmauk at the Seminary and associated with him in 
editorial and other work for twenty-five years, made 
many a discovery touching Dr. Schmauk's work and 
his real inner worth of which he had not been aware be- 
fore. Dr. Schmauk's life was too busy to make intimate 
and frequent personal intercourse with him possible. 
Hence much that was both new and refreshing came to 
light while entering into an examination of the material 
which gave an insight into the inner workings of his 



viii THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

mind and placed his life and character in richer and fuller 
perspective. 

What has deeply impressed the writer of this biog- 
raphy is the absolute uniqueness of Dr. Schmauk's per- 
sonality. His life and character defies all ordinary 
standards of measurement. It is as different from the 
lives of such leaders as Krauth, Seiss, Krotel and Spaeth 
as is a resistless mountain torrent, broadening out into 
many rivulets and cataracts, to the stately and majestic 
flow of the Mississippi. There was a big-heartedness, 
a perennial ardor and enthusiasm, a tremendous serious- 
ness and earnestness of purpose, a childlike simplicity 
and naturalness, and a sympathetic warmth and tender- 
ness, that won for him a place in the life and affections 
of the Church occupied by few men. He touched the 
life of the Church at more points than any other 
Lutheran personality in America. He was a veritable 
storage battery, with innumerable connecting wires to 
transmit sparks of influence and power far and wide 
throughout the Church, and beyond. He was the most 
ecumenical and inspirational Lutheran America has yet 
produced — length, breadth, height and depth combining 
to give him massiveness in body, mind and spirit. The 
author could do no other but write this biography under 
the spell of such an estimate of Dr. Schmauk's worth. 
Much as he tried, he found it impossible to bind him- 
self to a purely objective method of treatment. 

An attempt has been made to present to the reader 
with some fullness what Dr. Schmauk stood for. He 
ranks as one of the ablest and most consistent defenders 
of the Lutheran faith. His catholicity of spirit enabled 
him to put himself in the place of his opponent and 
see things from the latter's point of view. This gave 



PREFACE ix 

him an advantage over most Lutheran defenders of the 
faith and saved him from the charge of narrowness and 
bigotry. And yet he never swerved from the strong 
conservative position he always took by making weak 
or compromising concessions. The quotations given in 
the biography and in the supplement will bear out what 
has thus been said of him as a forceful defender of the 
faith. Only such parts in past controversies are brought 
out in this biography which seemed necessary to give a 
correct perspective. 

The author acknowledges gratefully the valuable as- 
sistance and co-operation of the Literature Manager of 
the Publication Board, W. L. Hunton, Ph.D., D.D., to 
whom he is indebted for an account of Dr. Schmauk's 
services as editor of the Graded Series of Sunday School 
Lessons. Dr. Hunton had been associated with him in 
this work for many years. He has also prepared the 
Index. Prof. E. E. Fischer, D.D., and Rev. Arthur H. 
Getz, one of Dr. Schmauk's promising students at the 
Seminary, who acted as his private secretary, have 
furnished an estimate of Dr. Schmauk's services 
as teacher of Apologetics, Ethics and related subjects 
at Mt. Airy. As Dr. H. E. Jacobs was intimately asso- 
ciated with Dr. Schmauk for many years in maintaining 
the standards of faith to which the Lutheran Church 
is committed, and as he was in a position to know him 
and his worth as few men knew him, a liberal use 
has been made of what Dr. Jacobs has so well said at 
different intervals and under varying circumstances. 
Last but not least, the writer acknowledges his indebted- 
ness to the surviving sister of Dr. Schmauk, upon whom 
he relied for much valuable information that could not 
otherwise have been secured. 

GEO. W. SANDT 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 
Schmauk Antecedents 1 

CHAPTER II 
Birth and Boyhood 6 

CHAPTER III 
Student at College 15 

CHAPTER IV 
Student at Seminary 26 

CHAPTER V 
Early Pastorate 37 

CHAPTER VI 
Literary Activities Begin 49 

CHAPTER VII 

As Educator 60 

The Pennsylvania Chautauqua 

CHAPTER VIII 

As Historian 66 

The Pennsylvania German and Lebanon County 
Societies. 



xii THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

CHAPTER IX 
As Editor and Sunday School Leader 79 

CHAPTER X 
As Citizen, Patriot and Public Speaker 94 

CHAPTER XI 
Death of the Father 109 

CHAPTER XII 
President of the General Council 117 

CHAPTER XIII 
The Confessional High Water Mark 127 

CHAPTER XIV 

Administrative Problems — Dr. Schmauk and the 

Germans — Relations With the Iowa Synod .... 141 

CHAPTER XV 

A Trying Convention — Dr. Schmauk and the 

Swedes 163 

CHAPTER XVI 

The Confessional Principle — Teacher at the 

Seminary 179 

CHAPTER XVII 

The Quadri-Centennial Celebration — The 

Merger Convention 192 

CHAPTER XVIII 
The Closing of a Strenuous Life 219 



CONTENTS xiii 

DR. SCHMAUK ON LIVE QUESTIONS 
AND ISSUES 



1. On the Person of Christ 239 

2. On the Doctrine of the Trinity 240 

3. On the Freedom of the Will 244 

4. On Negative Theology 245 

5. The Lutheran Conception of Salvation 246 

6. On Confessionalism 247 

7. Luther and the New Theology 248 

8. On Progressive Conservatism 249 

9. On Lutheran Union 251 

10. On Lutheran Pulpits for Lutheran Ministers 253 

11. On Lutheran Disunity 255 

12. On the Lodge and Pulpit Fellowship 256 

13. On Cooperation 258 

14. On Revival Movements 260 

15. The Lutheran Church and External Relationships 262 

16. Two Great Lessons of Providence 275 

17. The Church and Social Problems 277 

18. On Possibilities of Union 280 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



T. E. Schmauk Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

Benjamin W. Schmauk 1 

Wilhelmina Schmauk 1 

Benj amin F. Schmauk 1 

Boyhood Pictures 9 

Old Church and Historic Willow Tree 13 

Student at the University 33 

Student in the Seminary '. .. 33 

The Old Parsonage Built in 1800 37 

Old Salem Church 37 

Interior of Old Salem Church v . . . . 37 

Associate Pastors of Salem Church 39 

Lebanon in the Forties 41 

St. Paul's, Annville, and the Missions 47 

Salem Parsonage 53 

Chancellor Schmauk and His Department Heads, 1895 61 

Mt. Gretna Chautauqua Faculty, 1896 61 

Pennsylvania German Society Seal 66 

A Face Familiar to Children 81 

Common Service Book Committee on Completion of Work.. 83 

As a Public Speaker 101 

A Welcome Service for Returned Soldiers 105 

Interior of Old Salem Church, 1898, at Centennial Anniversary 109 

Salem Memorial Chapel Ill 

Interior of New Salem 113 

President of the Pennsylvania German Society 117 

President of the General Council 117 

Professor, Mt. Airy 165 

President, Minneapolis 165 

Pastor, Lebanon 165 

The Philadelphia Seminary Faculty, 1914 183 

The German Student Association of the Theological Seminary 189 
Ways and Means Committee for Organization of United 

Lutheran Church 207 



CHAPTER I 
The Schmauk Antecedents 

People will not look forward to posterity, who never look 
backward to their ancestry. — Burke. 

THE more immediate forebears of the Schmauk 
family, as known in America, hailed from 
Wuertemburg, Germany. In 1819, seven years 
after the Napoleonic wars, two brothers, in company 
with a considerable band of emigrants from that section, 
sailed from Holland on the vessel Susquehanna and 
landed in Philadelphia. They were Johann Gottfried 
and Benjamin Friedrich Schmauk. The former, being 
the elder of the two, then twenty-seven years of age, was 
the leader of the band and the purser of the vessel. A 
parchment of paper, well preserved, contains the names 
of sixty-five male emigrants on board the vessel, together 
with the amounts of money each had paid the purser. 
They are written in fine, legible style. The elder brother 
was a born teacher (as also were his father and another 
brother in Germany) and in addition a high-grade musi- 
cian, the author of "Schmauk's Harmonic" He had 
been engaged as the head of the parochial school of 
Zion and St. Michael's Church, Philadelphia, of which 
the eloquent and learned Dr. Demme was then pastor. 
He was also the organist. Among his distinguished 
pupils in that school were Gottlieb F. Krotel and Ben- 
jamin W. Schmauk, both well-known clergymen in the 
Pennsylvania Ministerium. He was a man of great 
force of character and well-known in the Church. 
B 



2 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

Benjamin Friedrich who was only nineteen years old 
when he came to this country,- was of a somewhat differ- 
ent type, being sturdy and thrifty but less assertive and 
aggressive. Besides being a barber, he was somewhat 
of a surgeon, doing cupping and leeching, and perform- 
ing some minor operations. He was a man of genial 
disposition and quite domestic and affectionate. A well- 
preserved parchment shows that as soon as the laws 
permitted, he applied to the Philadelphia court and be- 
came a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1825. 
This parchment is bis naturalization paper, which is now 
one of the family heirlooms. 

His wife, Theresa, was a very active and vivacious 
woman, and a leading member of Zion Church. She died 
in 1875, shortly after the celebration of their golden wed- 
ding anniversary. 

When in 1844, the well-known scholar and church his- 
torian, Dr. Philip Schaff, came to America, he carried 
a letter of introduction from the parents of Wm. Julius 
Mann in Germany to Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Schmauk, 
to whose fireside he was most cordially welcomed. The 
Manns and the Schmauks in Germany were related by 
marriage; and when later, upon the earnest solicitation 
of Dr. Schaff, William Julius Mann, his intimate and 
life-long friend, came to this country to serve a German 
congregation of the Reformed Church in Philadelphia, 
he naturally bore a letter from his parents to the 
Schmauks in whose home he met with a warm recep- 
tion. There sprang up between him and the Schmauk 
family a lasting friendship, made doubly strong and inti- 
mate because of kinship. To them were born two sons 
and a daughter — Benjamin, Emanuel and Theresa (who 
became the wife of Mr. Robert Otto, a cousin of Dr. 



THE SCHMAUK ANTECEDENTS 3 

Mann). Because of Dr. Mann's ability as a preacher, 
the well-known Dr. Demme, recognized far and wide 
as the most eloquent preacher in Pennsylvania, feeling 
his need of an assistant in the Zion-St. Michael's parish, 
saw to it that a call was extended to the young preacher 
and he thus became the pastor of the Schmauk 
family. 

Benjamin William, father of the subject of this sketch, 
was born on October 26, 1828. After attending the paro- 
chial school of Zion Church, he passed through the 
Philadelphia Grammar and High Schools and from his 
sixteenth to his twentieth year served an apprenticeship 
at silver-plating. Both Drs. Demme and Mann recog- 
nized in this serious and devout young man the promise 
of a useful career in the ministry and induced him to 
prepare for the holy office. Dr. Mann at once offered 
his services as preceptor and he became his first theo- 
logical student. He later entered the theological semi- 
nary at Gettysburg, and after a brief course of study in 
that institution, he returned to Philadelphia and finished 
his preparation under Dr. Mann and was ordained in 
Reading in 1853. He immediately accepted a call to 
Zion Church, Lancaster, Pa. Four years later, on the 
25th day of June, 1857, he was married to Wilhelmina 
Catherine Hingel, of Philadelphia, Dr. Mann officiating. 
The wife's father died while she was quite young. The 
mother, a bright, vivacious woman, was a very devoted 
member of Zion Church and an enthusiastic worker of 
the Frauenverein, and one of the founders of the Orphans' 
Home at Germantown. She is still recalled by members 
of Salem Church, Lebanon, Pa., where she often visited, 
as a person full of wit and humor, of social, jovial dis- 
position and noted for her hearty laugh, — a reminder of 



4 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

Dr. Theodore Schmauk's well-known and hearty out- 
burst of laughter. 

Benjamin W. Schmauk was a modest, serious, devout 
minister of the Gospel whose life did honor to his pro- 
fession. Although timid and retiring, he yet was cour- 
ageous, and ever stood up manfully for his convictions 
and for the defense of the faith. He was conscientious 
and devoted, and a veritable Nathanael in whom was no 
guile. He cared naught for honors, and thrice refused 
the title of Doctor of Divinity. To please God and serve 
Him faithfully was his life purpose. There was a rich 
vein of humor in this serious-minded servant of God; 
but it had to be called into play by others, and Drs. Krotel 
and Schantz found no difficulty in giving it full vent. 

His wife, Wilhelmina Catherine, was the type of virtu- 
ous woman described in the last chapter of Proverbs. 
She proved to be an ideal wife and mother, deeply con- 
cerned in the management of her home. She knew well 
how to perform her duties as helpmeet in the work of 
the parish. Undemonstrative and unassuming, she moved 
among her people with a poise and a wisdom that easily 
won their respect and confidence. Few parents wielded 
a greater moulding influence and power upon the lives 
of their children than did they. 

As will thus be seen, the entire Schmauk family, both 
husbands and wives, were reared in old Zion and St. 
Michael's Church, at a period when the parish was in 
its most flourishing condition. With two such distin- 
guished preachers as Drs. Demme and Mann, this twin 
congregation with its two church buildings in close prox- 
imity was recognized as easily the leading parish in the 
"Old Mother Synod." The impress of the robust spir- 
itual life of "Old Zion's," under its distinguished leader- 



THE SCHMAUK ANTECEDENTS 5 

ship, was indelibly stamped upon the whole Schmauk 
lineage, and it proved to be a decisive factor in furnish- 
ing Lancaster, Allentown, Lebanon and the whole Luth- 
eran Church in this country with two Lutheran pastors 
and leaders whose names will not soon be forgotten. 



CHAPTER II 
Birth and Boyhood (1860 to 1876) 

The child is father of the man, 
And J could wish my years fo be 
Born each to each by natural piety. 

— Wordsworth. 

IN the Schmauk homestead at Lancaster, Pa., while 
serving the parish known as Zion Lutheran Church, 
there was born on May 30th, 1860, to Benjamin 
William and Wilhelmina Catherine (Hingel) Schmauk 
a son, who at his baptism shortly thereafter was given a 
name expressive of the parents' gratitude to God and 
prophetic of the child's future dedication to His service. 
He was called Theodore Emanuel. He was a very sen- 
skive and high-strung child, active, alert and of an un- 
usually mature and inquiring mind. In 1864, the father 
accepted a call to the Salem parish in Lebanon and vicin- 
ity, and about five years thereafter the son took sick with 
scarlet fever, and his life hung on a thread for some 
days making full recovery extremely doubtful. At the 
same time, his sister, Theresa, about two years his junior, 
was prostrated with the same disease and her life, too, 
was despaired of. Both recovered, but the traces of their 
sicknesses were never fully wiped out in after life. His 
nerves were easily affected throughout life by jars of any 
kind, such as noises, loud talking and conflicting emotions, 
and he would at times suffer with sinking spells there- 
from. 

Already as a child he was a veritable storehouse of 



BIRTH AND BOYHOOD I 

nervous energy — active and anxious to assist his mother 
whatever her tasks might be. His frequent illnesses and 
the kindly nursing he received made him dependent upon 
a mother's love. He kept her busy answering questions 
or devising means whereby to keep him employed. He 
thus moved within the radius of her life and influence so 
completely as to feel a strong sense of dependence upon 
her tender ministrations which clung to him in his maturer 
years. It is rare that a youth is watched with more studied 
and solicitous care by parents than was he. 

How deeply the father's affection had centered around 
the life of his little son is revealed b}^ a letter to his wife, 
dated Nov. 16, 1861, when she had taken her seventeen 
months' old boy on a visit to her mother's home in Phila- 
delphia. He writes: 

"I am beginning to forget how he (little Theodore) looks. It 
is therefore high time that he should come back. I have been 
dreaming about him these several nights and I have been think- 
ing if he should be taken from us, how much like a dream would 
his whole existence be to us in after times. Fearful to think 
of it, and yet possible. The Lord spare us and spare him." 

There was law and order in the Schmauk household, 
but there was also love. His younger sister, Emma, 
writes : 

"My parents were exceptionally strict, but at the same time 
most loving and self-sacrificing. Brother and Sister (Theresa) 
were never allowed to be on the street, or out in the evening later 
than eight o'clock, until Brother went away to school. Eight 
o'clock was the bed hour. To me as the youngest they were a 
little more lenient in this respect. However strict they were, they 
tried their best to make home a happy place and took the greatest 
interest in their children." 

The parents became his companions to an exceptional de- 
gree, and yet realized that he must not be cloistered and 



8 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

thus prevented from mingling freely with boys of his 
own age. Consequently a place was fitted up in the rear 
of the parsonage to which his favorite companions were 
invited, and thus amid healthful surroundings and proper 
safeguards all that was needed to give vent to youthful 
energy and playfulness was provided. The playground 
soon became known as "Schmauk's Park." A fountain 
and water-works, a rookery and other rustic fixtures, a 
carpenter shop for the manufacture of all sorts of in- 
genious devices, made the rear yard a beehive of youth- 
ful industry. 

Playfulness was not foreign to his nature. When his 
parents made visits to members in the country, he was 
sure to make friends with the little folks of the house- 
hold, and invariably he would organize them into a con- 
gregation and then preach to them. Thus early in his 
youth, one could readily discern what would be his 
life-calling in after years. 

The young Theodore was fond of carpentry and exer- 
cised his tastes in this direction to the full. Brackets 
(some of them still to be seen), wall pockets, sewing 
boxes, picture frames, electric battery, and even a phreno- 
logical apparatus, were the creation of this youthful me- 
chanic. He made good use of a magic lantern and also 
of a printery. In the front of the parsonage, a lodgment 
was fitted up between the branches of a horse-chestnut 
tree, and the passersby could frequently see the young 
boy, with book in hand, securely nestled there. 

YOUNG SCHMAUK AT SCHOOL 

In a conference with several of his early schoolmates, 
we learned that in school and on the streets he was 
known as a budding youth quite different from the usual 




Boyhood Pictures 



BIRTH AND BOYHOOD 9 

type of school-boy at his age. While he became a leader 
among his schoolmates in such recreations as playing sol- 
dier and the like, his fondness for books and knowledge 
manifested itself quite early. It is needless to say that 
he stood at the head of his classes and was a favorite 
among the teachers. "So much so," one of his school- 
mates informs us, "that we boys were jealous of him." 
He found it desirable at times to join them in mischiev- 
ous pranks to win their good will. However, when taken 
to task, he was too conscientious to take refuge in lies 
or subterfuge and was prompt in acknowledging the 
wrong-doing. His favorite sport was to play soldier, and 
his resourcefulness as organizer and leader made it inevi- 
table that he should be the captain of the little com- 
pany he had organized. In fact, he was always a leader, 
for his aggressiveness made it difficult for him to be 
a mere follower. Often there was rivalry and things 
did not run smoothly, as a letter to one of his mates 
in which he pleads for reconciliation shows. 

The older members of Salem still remember him as a 
timid child — so timid that it was with difficulty that he 
could be induced to attend the infant school. He watched 
with dread the sexton's long pole with which to keep 
the children well behaved. This timidity clung to him 
throughout his early school life. He was marked as a 
model boy, polite and respectful, never inclined to rough- 
ness or boorishness. And yet he was full of life and 
energy, ever ready to take a leading part in any amuse- 
ment that struck his fancy. He was industrious, and ex- 
ceptionally eager to know things. When he visited in 
the country and saw the people churning butter, he had 
to know all about it. When water was brought to Leba- 
non, he ascertained all the facts and, gathering together 



10 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

a considerable assembly of boys, mounted the steps at 
the Post Office and related the whole story of how water 
was made to flow from the hills near by into the homes 
of Lebanon. He knew how to keep his teachers em- 
ployed answering all the whys and wherefores to satisfy 
his inquiring mind. 

AT SWATARA INSTITUTE 

After passing through all the grades at Lebanon, he 
entered the preparatory school at Jonestown, (Lebanon's 
rival at the time) about seven miles distant, which was 
then conducted by Prof. Koons, and known as Swatara 
Institute. This was in the fall of 1874 when he was 
fourteen years of age. Little slips of paper, on which 
he outlined the daily routine of work, have been found. 
They already show that careful and methodical planning 
of all his work which characterized him throughout life. 
It was here that he developed a real enthusiasm for books 
and knowledge, and when later he complains that he 
was not adequately prepared to enter the University of 
Pennsylvania, it is chiefly because he felt he was deficient 
in his knowledge of literature and history, which natur- 
ally a two years' preparatory course at Swatara Insti- 
tute could hardly be expected to supply. The daily cur- 
riculum of studies, as these little slips show, was crowded 
enough for any boy of fourteen. An interesting folder 
announces the dedication of a new building at the Insti- 
tute, which took place on October 1, 1875. Excursion 
tickets from points as far distant as Philadelphia, Sha- 
mokin and Harrisburg were issued, and Dr. J. G. Mor- 
ris, of Baltimore, and Henry Houck, Deputy State Super- 
intendent, were among the noted speakers. The diary 
describes the burning of the old building early in the 



BIRTH AND BOYHOOD 11 

spring. It was here that he became interested in the debat- 
ing society and took rank as the leading spirit in grappling 
with numerous questions much too big for youthful 
minds to tackle. 

He was the guiding-star of this organization, called 
the Centipede Literary Society, and a program of one 
of its entertainments, given February 22, 1874, has the 
following numbers: Grand Concert ("Hail Columbia") 
in which he and five others took part ; Opening Speech, 
Dialogue, Giant (with Schmauk as the actor), Comic 
Song, Pantomimes (in which he and another boy are rep- 
resented), Recitation, School Scene, Oration (Schmauk), 
Song, Tricks and Jugglery (Schmauk), Magic Lantern, 
Closing Speech, and Grand Song (Sextette). 

There was much about him in these years that showed 
a vein of playful humor, though the undertone of his 
character was deeply serious. It was not all books, with 
him. In the writing of essays, he at times aimed to pre- 
sent things in startling and even ludicrous fashion. When 
asked to write a descriptive essay, he chose as his sub- 
ject, "False Hair." The essay was promptly rejected 
and he was asked to write another. He then chose as his 
theme, "Mintstick." That too was rejected. On another 
occasion he wrote on a "Trip to the Arctic Regions." 
This playful bent of mind or cast of temperament was 
evidenced in some of his later effusions and addresses, 
but it was usually tempered with serious purpose. He 
exercised it to the full in the case of his beloved sister 
and companion, Theresa, to keep her in happy mood. 
When it came to debating, he never seemed timid or 
embarrassed. But he retained his bashfulness and reti- 
cence in his association with all except his intimate 
friends, particularly with the school girls at the Institute. 



12 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

He would often watch the girls while playing croquet; 
but it was with difficulty that they induced him to join. 
When on one occasion the ice was broken, he became 
quite interested in the group and a few days thereafter 
he displayed a little gallantry by presenting six of them 
with colored mica eye-glasses which he Ihimself had 
manufactured. However, he was somewhat embarrassed 
when he discovered that there were seven girls waiting 
to receive them, instead of six. When the seventh girl 
snatched one of the glasses away from another, it drew 
from young Schmauk a frown of disapproval and he 
became profuse in promising the disappointed girl a finer 
pair of glasses than the one she was deprived of. He 
kept his promise ; but as for keeping up the friendly as- 
sociations, there was little hope, for he soon lost him- 
self in study or other amusements. This aversion to 
social intercourse characterized him throughout life. He 
could feel comfortable only in the presence of both 
women and men who impressed him as being natural, 
sincere, true, genuine. He disliked mere conventionality. 

CONFIRMED AT FIFTEEN 

His confirmation in 1875, when he was fifteen years of 
age, impressed him profoundly as marking a distinct era 
in his life. He kept in his possession a clear outline of 
the sermon preached on that occasion, and letters ad- 
dressed some years later to a friend who had also been 
confirmed in Salem Church show how clear was his 
conception of the significance of baptism and of what 
it meant to be a Christian. His diary while at Swatara 
Institute contains the following resolutions : 

"1. To give one-tenth of all my money to religious 
purposes. 




Old Church and Historic Willow Tree 



BIRTH AND BOYHOOD 13 

"2. To try to live in accordance with my confirma- 
tion vows. 

"3. To use my time at school rightly and to behave 
properly as becomes a Christian. 

"4. To be polite to every one." 

Further on in the diary he is conscious that he had not 
lived up to these resolutions as he should and determined 
to make a fresh start. This diary shows that he kept 
track of the texts from which his father preached and 
took notes of the sermons. 

This youth was a 'lover of nature and delighted to make 
visits to the country. To him God's love and providence 
were everywhere visible in it, especially in all His living 
creatures. He had a special fondness for horses, dogs 
and birds. When attachments in particular cases were 
formed they were peculiarly strong. Upon receiv- 
ing word, while at college, that the favorite pet 
dog of the family had died, he is grieved to 
the heart. Like Luther he would have made 
a poor hunter. When later in life he fell sick with 
typhoid fever and became convalescent, a dove was sent 
to him prepared as his meal. When brought before him, 
he turned away from it, declining to eat it and saying: 
"I see the dove looking at me with its tender eyes." He 
could not muster courage enough even to kill a mouse. 

This tenderness and sympathy were imbedded in his 
very nature. They were the still waters that run deep. 
Compassion was as native to him as was his thirst for 
knowledge. When at college he tramped along the 
Delaware River and saw a lot of children and young peo- 
ple whose appearance and actions revealed that they be- 
longed to the submerged and abandoned class, his heart 
went out to them as sheep having no shepherd, and writ- 



14 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

ing home to his sister, reminded her how thankful she 
should be that she had been brought up in a Christian 
home. He was easily moved — even to tears — when the 
inner heart-strings were touched by the needs and sor- 
rows of others. 



CHAPTER III 
A Student at College (1876 to 1880) 

"Wouldst thou p[lant for Eternity, then plant, into the deep 
infinite faculties of man, his Fantasy and Heart." — Carlyle. 

WHEN the father, in 1876, felt that the demands 
on his strength in his large parish, which cov- 
ered the greater portion of Lebanon County, 
were such as to compel a change, he accepted a call to 
Allentown and became the first pastor of St. Michael's 
Church, where he labored seven years with marked suc- 
cess. This would have afforded him an opportunity of 
having his son near him while receiving his college edu- 
cation ; for he had expected to send his son to Muhlen- 
berg College, of which Dr. F. A. Muhlenberg, in whom 
he had unbounded confidence as an educator and friend, 
was at that time President. When, however, Dr. Muh- 
lenberg, under the weight of heavy responsibilities which 
he felt he must relinquish, resigned as president of Muh- 
lenberg College and accepted the Greek professorship 
in the University of Pennsylvania, what could be more 
natural for the father, when the presidency of Muhlen- 
berg College was still undetermined, than to send his son 
after him ? Other magnets in the persons of Dr. Krauth, 
Dr. Mann, and grandfather Schmauk combined to draw 
the younger Schmauk to the University of Pennsylvania. 
At that time, there were four Lutheran professors in 
the University. Besides Drs. Krauth and Muhlenberg, 
in the chemical and engineering courses there were Dr. 
S. P. Sadder (formerly at Gettysburg) and Dr. Lewis 
M. Haupt. 



16 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

It was therefore promptly decided to have the son live 
with his grandfather Schmauk (then a widower) while 
at College and in 1876 he entered the Freshman Class. 
Though he more than once complained that his prepara- 
tion had not been adequate, he took high standing from 
the start and soon passed from sixth or seventh rank to 
second and finally first. His home was with his grand- 
father for only two years, when the latter broke up 
housekeeping and went to Allentown to live with his 
son, Rev. B. W. Schmauk. The remaining two years 
of his college life and later the three years of his semi- 
nary career, he spent in the home of Mrs. G. W. Haws, 
an aunt on the maternal side. 

The correspondence between father and son during 
these years was most affectionate and confidential, reveal- 
ing the moulding influence of the father upon the faith 
and life of the son to a marked degree. Shortly after 
his arrival at the University, he writes a letter to his par- 
ents expressive of heartfelt gratitude for the sacrifices 
they had made in his behalf and of a devout purpose to 
dedicate his life to Christ's service. 

As 1876 marked the celebration of the Centennial of 
the nation's birth he took a deep interest in the great 
Exposition, wrote a detailed account of the military 
parade and the Fourth of July celebration in Independ- 
ence Square, and a description of the grand display of 
fire-works which closed the celebration. He says, "The 
rain put a stop to the celebrations outside, and the first 
day of the second century, the first 100th anniversary 
of our independence, ended with a grand display of fire- 
works in the heavens amid a roar grander than the loud- 
est of earth's batteries — it was the artillery of the Al- 



STUDENT AT COLLEGE 17 

mighty." The rain had caused a postponement of the 
pyrotechnic display. This description reveals the fulsome 
style of rhetoric and the striking use of the imagination 
which characterized many of his sermons and addresses 
in after life. 

About the same time he writes a letter to his little 
sister Emma, giving full play to his imagination. It re- 
veals his later well known gift of dealing with little chil- 
dren. What would interest a child more than a rainbow 
and a flying machine? 

"My Dear Emma : — 

There is a bridge of pearls being built, high over a gray lake; 

It is building itself up in a single minute, 

And is so high that it would make you giddy to walk on it. 

The highest masts of the biggest ships 

Can sail under its arch or bow. 

No one has ever walked over this bridge, 

And when you come near to it, it seems to run away. 

It is seen only when there is water in the air, 

And disappears as soon as the water passes away. 

So tell me where this bridge is found, 

And who has made it so skillfully? 

"What do you think? There is on exhibition at the Centennial 
grounds a 'Flying Machine.' I believe it has wings like a bird, and 
a seat for a man to sit in, and stirrups for him to put his feet in. 
A man went up on it the other day, and, although he could not fly 
as far as he might wish to, yet he could go in any direction that 
he pleased. How would you like to have such a flying machine? 
I guess the people in Allentown would be astonished if I should 
come flying home high over the church-steeples after school some 
afternoon. Then I could stay at home over night, and come down 
here early the next morning. We might put it in the Chronicle 
that you and I were to start from the top of St. Michael's Church 
Steeple at six o'clock the next morning for Philadelphia." 

As a student, he at once plunged into his studies with 
a zeal and enthusiasm that knew no bounds. He not 
C 



18 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

only faithfully prepared his lessons, but branched out far 
beyond what was required in the curriculum. The en- 
thusiasm with which he entered into his studies is indi- 
cated by a letter written to his father when he had started 
out as a sophomore in 1877. He says : "I feel that I am 
quite a different person from the Theodore of last Sat- 
urday. A new world has been opened to me in the 
study of literature, and of human nature through that 
literature, and in the study of the history of civilization." 
In both history and literature, as was proved in later 
life, he felt thoroughly at home. 

The well-known Dr. Robert Ellis Thompson, a warm 
admirer and associate of Dr. Krauth, proved to be one 
of his favorite teachers and gave him much inspiration 
in his studies. He spoke in terms of warmest admira- 
tion of Dr. Thompson and thoroughly enjoyed the "open 
discussions" under him in which many subjects were 
touched upon that gave the teacher the opportunity of 
making lasting impressions upon his pupils. His advice 
to study from motives of love for knowledge and with 
high ideals and aims kept constantly in mind, rather than 
for high marks or honors, supplemented the teachings 
of the father and bore fruit. He writes to his father: 
"I don't study for marks. I believe in them less than 
ever as a test of the student's faithfulness." When he 
at one time failed at recitation, as he thought, and was 
prompted by a classmate at his side, he refused to take 
advantage of it and so wrote his father. Following is 
the father's reply: 

"Dear Theodore: 

"I am sorry for you, and yet rejoice that you resist the tempta- 
tion to maintain your present position in the class by any other but 
the most honorable means. I would a thousand times rather see 
you at the tail of the class with a good conscience (and by that I 



STUDENT AT COLLEGE 19 

mean one keenly sensitive to the slightest violation of high-toned 
Christian principle) than at the head in consequence of a less 
scrupulous regard for honor and principle. 

"Your remaining silent rather than answering under prompting 
especially pleases me. I do not, however, wish to say more than 
is sufficient simply to encourage you in an humble fidelity to duty 
and nobleness of mind. Of whatever negligence you may be guilty, 
let it never be of anything that is — no matter how it looks— mean." 

It accounts for Dr. Schmauk's well-known aversion to 
work for honor's sake. His unwillingness to be photo- 
graphed with a view to have himself advertised in the 
press by means of his picture is well-known. It called 
forth his indignation when, contrary to his wishes, his 
picture appeared in The Lutheran and other periodicals. 
He often gave the press notice to refrain from taking 
such liberties. The root of this overdone modesty must 
be traced back to the influence, first, of his father and 
next, of his much-admired teacher. Knowledge must be 
sought and truth loved for their real worth and useful- 
ness and not to win applause. This is not saying that 
he was not human enough to appreciate the stimulus of 
the commendation of others which he ever highly prized. 

An interesting illustration of his thorough conscien- 
tiousness is an incident that occurred on the railroad train 
when on his way home from the University with a young 
cousin, then a trifle over six years of age. The conductor 
passed by without asking fare for the little boy ; but stu- 
dent Schmauk felt that the railroad was entitled to half 
fare and stepping up to the conductor informed him that 
the boy was one month beyond the six year limit and, 
of course, paid the half fare. More than one instance of 
a similar kind could be related. 

Under Dr. Thompson his taste for literature and his 
desire to make good use of his pen were greatly stimu- 



20 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

lated. One day he remarked to his favorite classmate, 
A. G. Voigt, with whom he was accustomed to take long 
walks, "I want to learn to write." It was said with an 
earnestness which left no doubt in his friend's mind 
that it was to be a fixed and enthusiastic purpose of his. 
He carried out the purpose by embracing every oppor- 
tunity that was offered at the University to practice the 
art. He competed in nearly all the prize contests. He 
won the Junior Philosophical Prize with an essay en- 
titled, "True Philosophy the Friend of True Religion;" 
the Alumni Junior Declamation Prize ; the Pihilomathean 
Society's Senior Prize for the best original essay ; and 
the Henry Reed Prize at graduation. 

His peculiar method of treating a subject crops out in 
a Junior speech which he prepared to deliver to the stu- 
dents and which Dr. Thompson rejected. He writes 
-to his father: "Dr. Thompson did not like the spirit 
in which it was written; it presented matter in an odd 
and unusual light; it was intended to make the students 
laugh." He then adds: "He did not see the terrible 
earnestness under that laughing and sarcastic tone." "It 
was intentionally odd and unusual so as to catch the 
attention of the students, and it had a moral for them." 
This peculiarity of approach to a subject and of giving 
it rather startling treatment was characteristic of him. 

His admiration for Dr. Thompson as teacher was un- 
bounded and on more than one occasion he gave expres- 
sion to it. Early in the course, he writes to his father : 
"If there is any one who can rouse up the enthusiasm 
of the student to study, read or think, I believe it is 
Thompson." Dr. Thompson had no less high opinion of 
his student and in a letter addressed to the writer, dated 
February 21, 1921, he says of him: 



STUDENT AT COLLEGE 21 

"When he entered the University he at once commanded my 
attention, not by his superior height, but by his independence and 
freedom of bearing, and his evident sense of a high purpose in 
his work. He was not a student who confined himself to the 
subjects of the curriculum. He had many intellectual interests, 
and he took them all seriously. While never aggressive in chal- 
lenging what was said by his teachers, he also was never merely 
a pupil to sit at their feet, but a brother in scholarship to confer 
with them and learn from them. 

"To Dr. Krauth he was a loving and beloved son, and the death 
of that great scholar and good man affected him profoundly. 

"Our community of interest in many matters brought us often 
together after he had finished his University course, and it always 
was a joy to meet him. He nearly always had a question I could 
not answer, but which excited my interest. I shall never forget 
a delightful night that I spent with him literally 'up a tree' at 
Mount Gretna when I was attending the Teachers' Summer School. 

"I was impressed with his deepening Lutheranism in his ma- 
turer years. He never had been anything but a Lutheran, but 
he came to see more in it, and to live more completely for it than 
when he was younger. But nothing ever cooled our mutual affec- 
tion, and I felt his early removal from us as much as did the 
members of his own communion." 

PHILOSOPHY UNDER DR. KRAUTH 

The teacher who loomed largest in moulding the intel- 
lectual and theological thought of young Schmauk was 
Dr. Krauth. Under such distinguished leadership, he 
fairly revelled in its study, and labored hard to master 
its fundamental ideas and principles, with Hamilton, 
Krauth's Berkley and Butler's Analogy as his text books 
— also Kant. He became so thoroughly absorbed in the 
subject that philosophical concepts filtered through his 
mind into his letters and essays and conversation during 
his stay both at college and seminary. When he pre- 
pared his philosophical essay in his Junior year, in a let- 
ter to his father, he submitted an outline to him so as 



22 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

to make sure of his ground. In a return letter, the 
father discusses at length the different points with con- 
siderable clearness; but being manifestly dissatisfied with 
the attempt, he winds up by saying he had said enough 
"to make the subject clear as mud." 

At the class-day graduation exercises, his fondness for 
philosophy was caricatured by his classmates who pre- 
sented him with a volume about two feet long and a 
foot thick entitled "Kant." When it was placed before 
him, he insisted on replying and started out with the 
sentence : "Kant a great philosopher ; Schmauk a little 
philosopher." Then followed an embarrassing pause ; 
but he stuck to his task, struggled through and came 
off with credit. His commencement speech (he was 
the valedictorian) showed traces of his philosophical 
training and was based on no less intricate subjects than 
the Hindu, Persian, and Sufi philosophies, in which 
he attempted to "bring out contrasts between them and 
western philosophy in a popular way," as he writes (won- 
derful to relate). 

At one time, he must have given expression, in a let- 
ter to his father, to some ideas that did not ring true, 
and, no doubt, the father expressed fears that plunging 
too deeply into the philosophical waters might submerge 
or drown his faith. However that may be, the son 
says in a letter: "What I wrote last week shows not 
the slightest religious change. I hope I can say that 
my faith is firm and unshaken. I derive much comfort 
in believing that Christ is the Truth. I believe as I did 
when I was confirmed." 

Books that influenced him greatly during his college 
course were Todd's "Students Manual" and Hamerton's 
"Intellectual Life." He also became interested in medi- 



STUDENT AT COLLEGE 23 

cine* and lawf and acquired a fair knowledge of the 
rudiments of both. He loved history. But at the clos- 
ing period of his college life, he was specially interested 
in the great thought and life problems and loved to dis- 
cuss them with his intimate friends, while taking long 
walks. Both A. G. Voigt and G. C. F. Haas were mem- 
bers of Zion Church and were in frequent touch with 
him, especially the former. Haas, who was at the Semi- 
nary while Schmauk was at college, says : "The favorite 
and most frequently treated subject was philosophy and 
its various problems. These conversations very clearly 
showed the thoughtful and research-loving quality of his 
mind. He always sought to go to the bottom of things, 
and yet he was not a dry reasoner and would very 
readily drift into all sorts of profound speculations." 

This same penchant for philosophical discussion crops 
out in his correspondence with Voigt, when the latter 
studied in Erlangen in 1882, before his graduation at 
the Philadelphia Seminary. Both were classmates not 
only at college but also at the Seminary, and delighted 
in attacking profound subjects. The correspondence 
shows that Voigt often sought to season the seriousness 
of Schmauk's thinking with sallies of wit, revealing 
marked differences of taste and temperament, and often 
of viewpoint. 

And yet the apprehension of truth through faith rather 
than by abstract reasoning was too strong in him to 
allow him to lose himself in the mazes of philosophical 



* A physician while seated by his side on a train bound for Philadelphia 
several years ago, said that he put questions on the subject of medicine 
at him which nine-tenths of the profession could not have asked and much 
less answered. 

t At a court trial in Harrisburg in 1919 he was placed on the witness 
stand to give testimony in a case affecting a congregation, and made so 
clear and lawyerlike a presentation that the Judge remarked he had never 
listened to an abler witness. 



24 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

systems of thought. He strove at all times to make 
his philosophy bend to his theology and he succeeded. 
In his Junior year when he first delved into the subject, 
he writes to his father: "I am getting to be interested 
in philosophy. But now I feel as if I would like to for- 
get, or never to have known, the mass of philosophical 
reasoning and argumentation. I have a yearning for a 
simple, pure life of faith — no deep questions of philoso- 
phy. I cannot see that philosophy is the friend of true 
religion that Dr. Krauth would probably say it was." 
His religion and not his philosophy became his real terra 
firma. 

While at college, as well as later in the Seminary, this 
tall, lank and youthful student was specially favored by 
being thrown in contact with two such luminaries as Drs. 
Mann and Krotel, the latter being a frequent visitor at 
the Schmauk homestead. In addition to the impress 
which Drs. Krauth and Muhlenberg left upon him, that 
of Drs. Mann and Krotel upon his life and character 
was potent. Dr. Mann was his father's theological 
teacher; and for seven years he was the pastor and for 
three years the Seminary professor of the younger 
Schmauk. He watched the young student and saw in 
him the promise of a brilliant career. He saw to it that 
his philosophy did not run away with him and that he 
did not run away from a more intimate knowledge of the 
German language. 

He was no less under the spell of Dr. Krotel's influ- 
ence, who watched the career of the young student with 
keenest interest. How strong the attachment between 
the two proved to be was later revealed by a voluminous 
correspondence when, chiefly through the younger 
Schmauk's influence and initiative, Dr. Krotel was in- 



STUDENT AT COLLEGE 25 

duced to become Editor-in-chief of The Lutheran in 
1896. This correspondence continued up to the time of 
Dr. Krotel's death in 1907. The younger Schmauk fell 
heir to the warm and lifelong friendship that sprang up 
between his father and the golden-tongued preacher of 
New York City, at the time when both attended the paro- 
chial school in Zion Church under the tutelage of Gott- 
fried Schmauk. 



CHAPTER IV 
Student at Seminary (1880 to 1883) 

"Master, I am here! 
Go on, and I will follow Thee, 
To the last gasp, with truth and loyalty 
Help me be true, 
And not give dalliance 
Too much the rein; 
The strongest oaths are straw 
To the fire in the blood. 
Wake in my breast the living fires, 
The holy faith tha)t warmed my sires/' 

— Schmauk. 

IN 1880, this young student, then twenty years of age, 
entered the Philadelphia Seminary. It is doubtful 
whether any other alumnus of that institution ever 
took up his course of study with greater zeal and more 
glowing enthusiasm than did he. He plunged into the 
routine of seminary life as one thoroughly in his ele- 
ment, determined to recast that routine, if possible — to 
enlarge it and put new life into it. The first thing he 
wished to know was what sort of library apparatus would 
be at his disposal. He at once made the discovery that 
it was practically inaccessible and useless in its cramped 
quarters, and needed thorough reorganization. He conse- 
quently denied himself a much-needed vacation, and be- 
fore seminary opened, he was busy with the task of recon- 
stituting it and bringing order out of chaos. More than 
once, in his diary, occur the words, "Extremely busy at 
library. " Two desks speedily appeared, much painting 
was done, a new register book secured (a gift from 



STUDENT AT SEMINARY 27 

Leary's where he was a frequent visitor), library lamps 
bought, rules and regulations framed, and within a month's 
time the whole aspect of things was changed and the 
students had at their disposal a workable library, though 
it still demanded more attention than the young organizer 
could give it. Even with two assistants that were later 
granted him by the faculty, he found enough to do to 
keep him busy ; for his motto all through life was never 
to do things by halves. This work brought him into con- 
stant touch with his revered teacher, Dr. Krauth, and 
proved to be fully as educational, if not much more so, 
than the prescribed courses of study. He had hardly 
been in the Seminary more than a few weeks, when the 
question of how to deal with the scientific doubter was 
discussed before the student body. He naturally took 
a deep interest in the subject and .presented a method 
and a line of argument. This was attacked by several 
seniors as meeting the doubter too much on his own 
ground. He felt the sting of their criticisms and in a 
letter submitted an outline of his argument to his father, 
complaining of the lack of the spirit of inquiry among 
the seniors. To this the father, in a letter dated October 
18, 1880, replies while he gives him wholesome advice. 
Part of it reads as follows: 

"From what you state as your line of argument, I do not see on 
what grounds any of the Seniors could rise to oppose you. It 
must be said, however, that even in the honest scientific doubter 
there is, if not a puffed-up, yet a lurking false pride — the same that 
is inherent in every natural or sceptical heart, and which prompts 
him to give undue heed to the reasonings of his head, instead of 
yielding unreservedly to the promptings of God's Spirit in his heart. 
But this pride of an honest (or apparently honest) but una wakened 
or unrenewed heart should be met by sanctified reasoning — reason- 
ing in the spirit of the love and word of God on scien- 



28 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

title grounds, as far as such grounds present themselves, or are 
involved in the presentation of purely religious reasons. 

"Unless you keep a constant clear-sighted check upon your im- 
pulsiveness, in a spirit of true humility and prayer, and are very 
careful of your tone and manner of speech, ever remembering the 
order of gradation and subordination of classes and what is due 
to the mere outward rank of seniority, you are in danger of ren- 
dering yourself obnoxious to fellow-students of all the three classes 
and of giving yourself in their eyes the appearance (though you 
may not be such in reality) of one eager to display a capacious 
mind and education, and also of one disposed to be a fault-finding 
agitator. You are conscious, I know, of the purest and best of 
motives, but do not forget that others, most of whom have had no 
full opportunity of knowing you thoroughly, are not so ready to 
give you credit for them. 

"As long as you keep within these bounds of discretion and 
Christian modesty, I am glad to see you make yourself, as far 
as occasion calls for it, prominent in awakening a spirit of inquiry 
and earnest zeal in others. " 

In the summer of 1881, after an excursion of two 
weeks by foot to the Water Gap by way of Bath, Pen 
Argyl and Bangor, in company with his classmate, Voigt, 
and another (with G. C. Gardner) by boat to Catasauqua, 
he returned to the City the latter part of August, when 
it was oppressively hot, to take up work in the Library 
and to prepare the way for a students' seminary journal. 
"Hard at work in the Library," occurs more than once 
in his diary. He had to do much in running errands and 
providing financially for his proposed venture. His father 
felt very uneasy, knowing full well how his enthusiasm 
for work might react against his health; and not with- 
out reason, for more than once was he threatened with 
a break-down. His note of warning reads as follows: 

"It is a pity you must be in Philadelphia during these hot, dry 
days; and I feel uneasy in thinking of the effect it may have 



STUDENT AT SEMINARY 29 

upon your health, especially if you are obliged 'to run about the 
city in the broiling sun and have much care on your mind in 
regard to the Library and your new enterprise. It will not do for 
3'ou to exhaust and work up your nervous system, keeping it in a 
constant flurry already at the beginning of the Seminary term. 
If you should break down now, what will be your condition for 
the next six months at least? Therefore do not risk the chance 
of overworking and overexciting yourself already at die start. 
Rather than that, let business, however pressing, wait and suffer. 
In order to t>e true to what the future will demand of you, and 
what God now asks of you, your first duty is to save and husband 
your strength. This you realize, but you must battle with yourself 
to keep your ardor for work in this necessary restraint ; and I 
would help in this direction." 

After consulting with Drs. Krauth and Mann and 
Weidner, submitting his ideas and plans to them, and 
finally his editorials and other material; and after col- 
lecting the needed funds and making the necessary con- 
tracts, having interested the student body and prominent 
leaders in the Church, there appeared in neat magazine 
form, in October, 1881, the first issue of The Indicator, 
bearing the motto : "Keep that which is committed to 
thy trust." It is needless to say that this journalistic 
innovation created considerable interest and met with 
general favor. The father, in a letter, expressed his 
pleasure, but seasoned it with a characteristic admonition 
to keep humble, as he wrote : "I am pleased with and 
proud of The Indicator and its Chief Editor, whose 
work it almost exclusively seems to be. I trust and pray 
he may have grace to bear without moral injury the praise 
he is likely to reap from many quarters." 

The father was ever diligent in impressing upon the 
son the grace of humility, and did not like to see him 
unduly praised. When later the son preached a sermon 
with great acceptability, a friend wrote the father speak- 



30 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

ing in highest terms of the son's ability as a preacher 
and indulged in much laudation. In his reply the father 
wrote, "He needs your prayers, not your praises." 

Commendations came in from all sides and the Church 
papers, with one exception, gave it most favorable men- 
tion. 

The Lutheran of December 1, 1881, (Dr. Krotel, editor) wrote 
thus: 

"We might notice the Indicator among our Lutheran Ex- 
changes, but prefer to give it a special place because it comes 
from our Seminary Library, is so young, and has grown so 
rapidly. Before our advent to this chair, we saw the first two 
numbers, each containing four pages, and itoday we have received 
the third, which has eight pages. It is a monthly, devoted to the 
interests of the Theological Seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church, at Philadelphia. Subscription price, 25 cents per year, 
strictly in advance. Address Indicator, 212 and 214 Franklin 
street, Philadelphia. 

"It is a sprightly little sheet, admirably adapted to its purpose. 
The number before us contains short, but valuable communications 
from Drs. Spaeth and C. W. Schaeffer, and Prof. M. H. Rich- 
ards. The rest is the work of the young Librarian and editor, 
whom we knew before he knew himself. Dr. Spaeth's article on 
Johann Albrecht Bengel, tells us that Gnomon means Indicator. 
This being the case we wish all success to the young Bengel to 
whom we are indebted for the Seminary Gnomon." 

Our Church Paper from the South gave it a hearty 
send-off and advised its readers to subscribe for it. The 
one exception was Zeuge der Wahrheit, in which Dr. 
Sihler of the Missouri Synod disapproves of the enter- 
prise and thinks that students could devote their time to 
study much better than to waste it on The Indicator. 

But the work of the double task of acting as editor 
and librarian weighed heavily upon him and he notes 
in his diary: "Indicator, library, library reports, and 



STUDENT AT SEMINARY 31 

finally my lessons and my reading! Too much is upon 
me!" He soon concluded that the student-body, which 
had allowed the adventurer to shoulder the whole financial 
burden while they stood by and applauded, must now 
assume responsibility and not allow it to be continued 
as a purely personal enterprise. Hence we read these 
words in his diary, early in 1882 : "During the winter 
term I felt that now or never was The Indicator to be 
turned over to the students and made a Seminary affair." 
Accordingly at a meeting shortly before Easter of that 
year, he presented the proposition in so thorough, able 
and convincing a manner as to win unanimous approval 
and by Easter it was published under the auspices of the 
student body. 

HIS TWENTY-FIRST BIRTHDAY 
A sidelight, which reveals how strong were the ties 
between the father and the son, and by what magic the 
former exerted and maintained his influence over him, is 
a letter of the elder Schmauk on the occasion of his son's 
twenty-first birthday. It was in response to an "effu- 
sion" of the son which unfortunately is not within reach. 
In it he doubtless poured out of the fulness of his heart 
noble thoughts and aspirations. The father's letter, how- 
ever, has been preserved and is worthy of a place in 
this biography. It reads: 

Allentown, May 30, 1881. 
"My Dear Boy: 

"The true relation of a son to his parents is not to be marked 
by his age, or maturity in years. Nor are the feelings with which 
I respond to your affectionate and noble birthday effusion capable 
of being fully, or even properly, expressed by me in words. I 
will not even attempt to put into set and select language what 
you already know to be the language of our hearts and of our 
lives in our parental feeling towards you. I will give you no 



32 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

fatherly advice and admonition on this the day of your entrance 
into the years of manhood. You do not especially need it. I 
will not speak of our past cares and hopes and joys as centered 
in you our first-born, and only son. I will simply say, you have 
been to us a 'Theodore,' a gift of God indeed, more precious than 
all earthly gifts; weighting our consciences with solemn respon- 
sibilities, but also rejoicing them with rich blessing. Nor will I 
speak of your promise and our fond expectations for the future; 
but will simply and fervently pray: 'God bless you, my son!" 
and speed and sustain you in the line of principle, duty, and 
calling you have so freely chosen, and He the Lord has so graci- 
ously marked out for you ! I have often wished I could live my 
youthful years over again, and also much of my ministerial life — 
how much more faithfully would I improve my opportunities !" 

AN INSPIRATIONAL BOOK 

Early on Sunday morning, after the closing of the 
Seminary in 1881, he writes a characteristic letter which 
shows with what enthusiasm he could enter into the life 
of a book. It is hard to guess what particular book he 
was reading, but the following effusion shows what a 
deep impression its contents made upon him: 

"My Dear Father : 

"Thursday afternoon, when the recitations at the Seminary were 
over and the students were about leaving for home, I felt inclined 
to follow their example. The day was so spring-like, so pleasant 
and warm, that my imagination was ever building up pictures of 
awaking Nature in the quiet country and my thoughts refused to 
be confined within a narrow, little, one-windowed room in a dusty, 
ugly city. 

"But on that very day, and on every succeeding day, I was richly 
repaid for resisting the temptation. For within a space, four 
inches by twelve, in traveling between the two covers of a book, I 
had gone to the uttermost parts of the earth, I had traversed the 
air, and risen to the heavens. I have acquired and have in my 
possession fields perennially blooming and lands that can never be 
mortgaged or sold. A part of the thoughts, words, deeds and events 



STUDENT AT SEMINARY 33 

of the past, a faint presentment of my work in the future, and 
above all a clear insight into the fact that history is ruled by 
Providence, a feeling of my dependence and a trusting in that 
Providence, a complete — as it seems to me — removal of the chief 
difficulty in my attempts to harmonize my philosophy and my 
religion, and following on all this a descent of theology from my 
head to my heart, an advance beyond the portals into the deep 
realities of Christian faith and life, have — if I have not been 
deceived — been granted to me." 

His thirst for knowledge and his ability to cover an 
immense field of literature in a short space of time with- 
out merely skimming over the surface were exceptional. 
During the summer of 1881, when the two previously 
mentioned excursions occupied his time from July 11th 
to the latter part of August, and when thereafter the 
Library and his new project absorbed all his energies, he 
yet was able to say in his diary that he had covered the 
following ground: Botany and Cornpte (Britannica), 
Life of Frederick the Great (Macaulay), Life of Milton 
(Patterson), Hypatia (Kingsley), History of Architec- 
ture (Ferguson), Islam (Kramer), Miracle in Stone 
(Seiss), Schul-Lieder-Schatz, and Luther and Dante. 

No field of knowledge seemed foreign to him. He at 
one time visited a watch factory, and came back to the 
Seminary with a remarkably clear and detailed account 
of the whole process of making watches. 

During the Easter vacation of 1882, he substituted for 
a teacher in the high-school at Allentown, who had taken 
sick, and did so with great acceptability from April 11th 
to April 28th. During the summer vacation he supplied 
Trinity Church at Catasauqua and awakened hopes 
among the members that upon his ordination he might 
become their pastor. In the fall, he entered the Semi- 
nary, as he says, "determined to absorb myself in theo- 
D 



34 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

logical study and let outside matters alone." He had 
hardly made a fair beginning in carrying out this pur- 
pose when on October 28th he took sick with a severe 
attack of typhoid malaria. For many days his "mind was 
almost a vacuum," he says. His mother, who nursed him 
through many an illness before, was summoned to Phila- 
delphia and under her watchful care he recovered suf- 
ficiently to be able to return to his home at Allentown, 
several weeks before Christmas, to recuperate. He re- 
signed as editor of The Indicator and as senior librar- 
ian. The former resignation was accepted, but the lat- 
ter not. 

DR. KRAUTH'S DEATH 

Hardly had he been settled in his home environment 
when, on January 2, 1883, news of the death of his re- 
vered teacher and model theologian, Dr. Krauth, reached 
him. All he can say in his Diary is, "During my stay 
at Allentown, Dr. Krauth, my dear professor, died." 
Though not unexpected, it proved to be a severe shock 
to him, and though not fully recovered, he must attend 
his funeral. Unfortunately, the weather proved to be 
most unfavorable and to pay his last respects to his 
great teacher was denied him. He, however, paid his 
tribute to him in the next issue of The Indicator and 
under much difficulty wrote his "In Memoriam." 

We shall here allow Dr. Jacobs to repeat the words he 
spoke at the Schmauk memorial service at the Seminary 
and as printed in the Lutheran Church Review which 
appeared in the summer of 1920: 

"It is interesting to read his tribute to Dr. Krauth as 'an ideal 
teacher for an ideal student.' He did not mean it so, but we all 
know who that 'ideal student' was. 'Hundreds of times,' he writes, 
'that, in response to his teacher's challenge, he had raised ob- 



STUDENT AT SEMINARY 35 

jections and provoked debates in the classroom, only in every 
case, to find every difficulty removed! Was it a wonder that this 
'ideal teacher' became his ideal as a teacher when he found like 
'ideal pupils' sitting at his feet? Those who knew the eminent 
teacher can read that teacher's mind back of the utterance of the 
pupil in his student days : 'We believe in circumferences, but we 
must first find and possess ourselves of a center; then only,' i. e., 
after the center is once found, 'may we say that there can be no 
true center without a circumference.' We can almost see the 
dignified form of the beloved teacher turning with tottering steps 
to the library-room on Franklin Street, after the exhausting duties 
of the day's work at University and Seminary were over, seeking 
the association of the youthful librarian, and then, again, the 
youthful librarian hastening to West Philadelphia with his many 
wonderful day-dreams for the library and the Seminary, to be 
revised and censored by an older head. The Indicator, which 
he started to further these interests, bore as its motto on the 
cover : 'Keep that which is committed to thy trust' It pleaded 
for a 'Professorship of Sacred Oratory:' and that professorship 
came. It urged a thorough re-arrangement and re-classification 
of the library ; and he was promptly commissioned to undertake it. 
Then the cry was raised for the removal of the Seminary to the 
suburbs, where a group of buildings on ample grounds might be- 
come the center of the ever-growing life of the Church. Not 
many years passed before he was destined to see all these visions 
of his Seminary Days realized." 

Early in the new year of 1883, he returned to the 
Seminary and took up his work with renewed enthu- 
siasm. He was soon able to supply pulpits and thus 
awaken hopes in not a few churches that they might 
win as their prize this promising youthful preacher. He, 
however, became absorbed in his studies and gave little 
thought about his future. The two sad experiences of 
his last year at the Seminary made him deeply serious. 
Dr. Mann, who sought to impress upon the hearts of 
every out-going class their need of a completer surren- 



36 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

der to their Lord and of a fuller realization of the mean- 
ing of their future calling (and at times with tears), 
was at his best in one of his recitations, and we read in 
Schmauk's Diary these words: "At an hour in Ethics, 
Dr. Mann made, I hope, a lasting impression on us stu- 
dents — telling us we must have a spiritual life of our own, 
must not mix too much with the world but look at every- 
thing from the Christian point of view. He was very 
earnest." He was not alone in feeling the force of Dr. 
Mann's influence in quickening the spiritual life of his 
students and deepening their consecration. 




Old Salem Church 




Interior of Old Salem Chvrci 



CHAPTER V 



His Early Pastorate As Associate 
of His Father (1883-1898) 

The minister of Christ mill manifest Christ in the strength 
of individuality. He will not follow the stream whichever way 
it leads. From the cut of his coat to the formation of his opinion, 
from the most trifling act to the iveightiest decision, he will not 
do only as others do. He will not dread being in a minority. 
He will not become a mere reflection, an echo, a shadow of those 
with whom he mingles. He will not imitate either preacher or 
thinker. Rooted firmly in the Word, he will develop and pro- 
ceed in his own way, as God intended he should. — Schmauk. 

THIS promising luminary became widely known 
before his graduation as a valiant son of the 
Church who had already won his spurs, and 
seven doors for future service were thrown open to him 
which he was strongly urged to enter. He had the choice 
of entering the educational sphere at Augustana College, 
Rock Island, 111., as professor of English and Philosophy, 
or taking up journalistic work as editor of The Lutheran 

in case Dr. Reuben Hill 
should succeed in becoming 
its owner, or of accepting 
one of five calls to congre- 
gations. Already during his 
convalescence from illness 
in December, 1882, he was 
approached from several 
sides to commit himself as 
to his future field of labor, 
at Allentown the questions 
were — prematurely and un- 




Oie 2i>/>Soi*ci£. 3v. 



and he writes 
in regard to i 



"While 
future 



38 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

fortunately as father and I thought — sprung upon 
me. Rev. Hill said he would try to buy out 
The Lutheran and give me half its profits, if I would 
run it as editor. Conclusion: I was too young, 
father had educated me to preach and I had no 
pastoral experience; this would have made a business 
man of me." "Professor Weidner, in from Augustana 
College on a Christmas trip, said I must by no means 
bind myself down in the east until I had received a call 
to Augustana as professor of English literature and of 
Christianity. (The title was changed later as above). 
Esbjorn (his classmate), Weidner and I would be to- 
gether. The field is glorious and unlimited in extent. 
Conclusion : — probably negative, because my constitu- 
tion could not stand the work, the mode of life, and 
because of the opposition of my dear mother." The 
mother well knew that owing to his delicate health, he 
would be helpless away from home in case of sickness. 
Colonel Horn, father of the late Dr. E. T. Horn, with 
the aid of the Rev. J. D. Schindel, importuned him to 
have an open mind for Trinity Church, Catasauqua, 
Pa., and St. John's Church, Coplay, to be formed into 
one parish. 

As soon as he returned to the Seminary in January, 
1883, as he notes in his diary, "Sandt tried to impress 
me with the duty of going to Camden (Epiphany.)" 
With St. Stephen's in mind, Dr. Mann advised : "Don't 
fasten yourself anywhere. I have plans for you in West 
Philadelphia." Later in the year, he was approached by 
Dr. S. P. Sadder, then a member of St. Stephen's, and 
urged to accept the call to that congregation, at one time 
served by Dr. Krauth. 

When spring came, two more calls were at hand to 



EARLY PASTORATE 39 

be considered, — one from St. Paul's, Brooklyn, and an- 
other from Salem Church, Lebanon, the latter to both 
father and son. On April 6th, he notes in his diary : 
"I went home to decide with father. After great anxiety, 
Providence seemed to indicate Lebanon. I so informed 
all parties." 

Thus the die was cast for Lebanon, and on the morn- 
ing of July 1, 1883, the father preached his introductory 
sermon; and in the evening, the son discoursed on the 
text which he had adopted as the motto of The Indicator : 
"O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust" 
— a text that was later to find rich fulfilment in his own 
case as preacher, teacher, editor, administrator and author 
in the defense of the faith. 

It was almost inevitable that father and son should 
decide in favor of Salem Church, Lebanon. It was home 
to both as no other place could be. Twelve years of the 
younger Schmauk's boyhood were spent there. Strong 
ties of friendship had been formed. Contrary to the 
adage that "a prophet hath no honor in his own coun- 
try," the whole Schmauk family was welcomed with open 
arms. Then, too, did not "Old Salem" have an honored 
history? With such pastors and leaders as John Caspar 
Stoever, Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg (speaker of 
the first and third Congresses of the United States), 
George Lochman and Dr. Krotel on its roll of minis- 
ters, there was an added drawing power in this call to 
Lebanon. 

From the parents' point of view, the will of Provi- 
dence was correctly interpreted. Not only did his deli- 
cate constitution need the watchful care of the best nurse, 
to him, in the world, — a wise and loving mother — but 
his absorption in parish work and in his studies became 



40 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

such as to render him dependent upon a mother's over- 
sight. In fact, he remained a "mother's boy" to the 
end of his days, and after his elder sister and both 
parents had passed away, he leaned upon his younger sis- 
ter as upon a mother. Independent thinker and origina- 
tive genius that he was, he in his formative years leaned 
upon the wisdom and counsel of his father, and was in the 
highest sense a father's boy. Dr. Knubel spoke more truth 
than fiction, when at the Schmauk memorial service 
held in the Seminary chapel he likened this man of mas- 
sive mind and spiritual power to a child, for the funda- 
mental quality of his character was childlikeness. 

LEBANON A PARADISE 

Many have wondered why this many-sided and re- 
sourceful genius could not afterwards be enticed away 
from Lebanon. The very roots of his life were imbed- 
ded in its soil. It mattered little that leaders in the 
Church urged him to become professor in the Chicago 
Seminary in 1894, or later its president upon the death 
of Dr. Weidner, or president of Muhlenberg College upon 
the death of Dr. Seip, or professor of Apologetics in the 
Theological Seminary at Mt. Airy; for he was rooted 
like a tree to his native soil, and he waived aside all sug- 
gestions of what others might have believed to be a pos- 
sible wider usefulness which meant separation from dear 
old Lebanon and especially from the active pastorate. 

He would have been ready to go anywhere, ready to 
make any sacrifice, had he felt that it was God's will. 
Mere sentiment counted little with him. But what he 
needed to make him useful to his Church in the largest 
possible sense was home anchorage. In his uncertain 
state of health, this he could not have had away from his 



EARLY PASTORATE 41 

parental home. There was his workshop from which 
he could reach out in all directions to serve in the many 
spheres to which he became tied. That study on the 
third floor, with a secretary and a stenographer at hand 
to do his correspondence, read his proofs, keep the many 
threads of his literary activities together, and arrange and 
assort and preserve for use material he was constantly 
gathering, became a veritable beehive of industry. It 
was his citadel or mountain fastness from which it would 
have proved most painful for him to be dislodged. Mov- 
ing would have been a most distressing ordeal. He 
notes in his diary on one occasion his utter discomfiture 
when house-cleaning invaded his sanctuary. To set 
things in order exhausted him far more than days and 
weeks of the intensest mental work. 

Then, too, he had become deeply rooted in the historic 
environment of that section. He lived in its past and 
was anchored there as fully as in his home life. That 
whole section became endeared to him. 

In an address before the graduating class of the Leba- 
non High School in 1913, he speaks glowingly of it as 
follows : 

"Lebanon County is God's temporal Paradise — not fat with 
tobacco land as is Lancaster on its south, nor lean with gravels 
and coal measures as is Schuylkill on its north. Can you any- 
where match this great and grand landscape of ours, a cross- 
section of the longest valley in the world, the Kittatinny, extending 
from Vermont in the north to Georgia in the south; and stretch- 
ing across Pennsylvania from the Susquehanna on the west to 
the Delaware on the east, with the steady sky-line of the Blue 
Ridge bounding the north, and the South Mountain, broken away 
at Millbach and replaced by the new red sandstone furnace hills 
of Conewago on the south? What variety of scenery is com- 
pressed into this small palm of God's hand!" 



42 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

"The pioneers from the castle-crowned ridges of the Palatinate, 
coming into the hills and meadows to our east, thought so, and 
they named that eastern township after their own beloved land, 
Heidelberg." 

"The Moravians, friendly to the Indians and their fastnesses, 
and seeking security from old world persecution, thought so, — and 
they named the great township to the north of us, stretching clear 
to the gaps and the pinnacles of the Blue Ridge, with its great 
beds of slate, Bethel — House of God — and the pasture land of the 
country, Hebron." 

"The North Germans, viewing the high rolling heaths and 
great foothills that led them to think of the approach, as to their 
own Harz Mountains, thought so, — and they named the township 
of the northwest Hanover." 

"The mountain folk of Scotland, who had immigrated hither 
by way of northern Ireland, were reminded, by the rising and the 
breaking ground and the scenes along the Swatara toward its 
mouth, and the concentrating of the hills toward the northwest, 
of their own old home, and they called the township Londonderry." 
He then speaks of "the rich meadow regions of the Millbach, 
pasture lands watered by brooklets, and in the center the Tulpe- 
hocken, the flower-land where the turtle wooeth; and the Quitta- 
pahilla, the valley's bottom-cut of limestone, out of which there 
bubbled up into the marshes above hundreds of tiny springs." 

Then coming nearer and nearer to Lebanon he speaks of the 
"miniature and agricultural Switzerland" of which it is the center. 
He recalls incidents in its history which would entitle it to cele- 
brate more than one centennial — the Salem Church building, for 
instance, being at that time more than a century old. He pictures 
the Palatines, driven from the valley of the Schoharie, on their 
journey to the head waters of the Tulpehocken to the fertile 
meadows and hilltops near Lebanon which were made "to blossom 
as the rose." 

Who would leave a Paradise like that, so rich in sacred 
memories of a sturdy pioneer race? 



EARLY PASTORATE 43 

EARLY LIGHTS AND SHADOWS 

The first sermon of the younger preacher struck a re- 
sponsive chord and awakened bright hopes and expecta- 
tions among the people of "Old Salem." It made them 
feel that a new era was upon them. In the father they 
recognized a man to be esteemed and revered; in the 
son, a man to be admired and applauded. It was a happy 
combination of progressive conservatism on the one 
hand, and enthusiastic (yet conservative) progressive- 
ness on the other. There was an atmosphere of optimism 
and expectancy created from the start, and later events 
proved that it was there to stay. 

Three weeks had passed, when the hand of death 
was laid upon the enfeebled Grandfather Schmauk, with 
whom the younger Schmauk had made his home for two 
years while a student at the University, and who had 
become a member of the Schmauk family in his declin- 
ing years. Strong attachments had been formed. "Oh, 
how dearly I loved him !" is on record in the diary as 
the outburst of love from the soul of his grandson Theo- 
dore. 

Another death occurred less than a year later when 
after a brief visit to Lebanon, his grandmother on the 
maternal side, with whom and whose daughter he had 
sojourned five years and who was affectionately called 
"Ma," passed away. He says of her: "She was more 
than an ordinary grandmother to me, taking a deep inter- 
est in my personal welfare, helping me along in many 
ways (financially also), always ready and anxious to 
listen to the story of my troubles and my triumphs. I 
see few like her — vivacious, cheerful, sympathetic, pious. 
She was glad to die." 

This same heart broke out in accents of deepest grief 



44 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

when nine years later his beloved and frail sister Theresa 
unexpectedly died and was brought home from Chicago, 
whither she had gone to regain her health under special 
medical care. Letters reached her in quick succession 
breathing the most tender affection and sympathy. He 
sought to encourage and cheer her in every possible man- 
ner, -of which the following is a characteristic sample : 

My Own Dearest, Sweetest Little Sister: 

I wish you such a peaceful and restful Christmas. Do not 
let the fact that you are away from home interfere with you. 
For soon after Christmas comes Easter, that brightest of all 
the Church Festivals, in the beautiful season of Spring, and 
long before that time you will be with us again, to celebrate it. 

Then the grass will begin to grow green, and the beautiful 
flowers will reappear, and the sunshine which you enjoy so much 
will be here in floods. 

But Christmas is a beautiful Festival, too. How far away 
our dear Saviour went from his Father's House on that day, to 
five and suffer in this world here for thirty-three years before 
He could return again. How glad we are that He has been in 
the world. He is more to us than laurel, pine or holly. He not 
only ornaments, but he saves. How we can rest in Him, and 
how close He seems to us in the Christ-child, as a little babe. 
He is not so far above us that way. 

It is now so long since we have heard from you, and your dear 
mother and the rest of us are longing so much for a letter 
from our dear one. We are thinking of her all the time, especially 
at this season. We have made very few preparations for Christ- 
mas as yet. 

Now Good Bye, My Dear, Dear, Darling Sister. This is not 
the whole of my Christmas letter, but only the first installment. 
Sick people ought not eat a whole nice cake at once, but only a 
little at a time. So I thought I would send my Christmas letter 
"a 'little at a time." Now laugh a little, and let the sun shine 
in your heart. 

Your Very Own Most Affectionate Brother, 

THEODORE 

Wednesday Night 



EARLY PASTORATE 45 

During his sister's stay, he prepared a neat 
little brochure entitled "Heart Broken," which was 
intended as a gift to her. When he learned of her death, 
a poem was wrung from his soul, and the following in- 
scription in the book appears : "For thy surprise and 
comfort this book came into being. And thou hast not 
seen it." The real Schmauk lies hidden in these strong 
attachments. 

AN ERA OF EXPANSION 

With characteristic enthusiasm and thoroughness, the 
young associate pastor took hold of the work of the 
parish, interesting himself particularly in the young peo- 
ple. When the catechetical class was organized in the 
fall, he had the catechumens come to the parsonage in 
five small and separate groups at different hours to stimu- 
late and assist them in mastering the Catechism. He 
had made a thorough study of the best catechetical litera- 
ture and there speedily appeared his "Outlines for Cate- 
chetical Instruction," published in 1892. 

At that time, Ingersoll had been lecturing and was 
much advertised in the papers, and he determined to 
counteract his influence. In December he made a trip 
to Philadelphia to avail himself of the necessary litera- 
ture with which to make a thorough study of atheism 
and preached "two immensely laborious sermons," as 
he says, to crowded churches. The local papers con- 
tained lengthy extracts of the sermons, which made a 
most favorable impression. About this time, hypnotism 
had become the sensation of the hour and a strong ser- 
mon was preached with telling effect, which appeared in 
full in the daily papers. Two thousand copies were 
printed in pamphlet form and the edition was exhausted 
in a very short time. He at once sprang into prominence 



46 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

in the city as a man of light and leading and as Lebanon's 
favorite preacher.* 

At picnics of the Sunday School and the Young Peo- 
ple's Society, he planned all the amusements in elaborate 
detail. That of the former he pronounces a "grand suc- 
cess" and of the latter he says that "he got them all 
to go home in the evening without any dancing." He 
attended institutes and Sunday School conventions faith- 
fully and became favorably known as a speaker and 
leader wherever he went. He soon sprang into favor 
among the Lebanon people irrespective of denominational 
affiliation, and afterwards became their most prominent 
and honored citizen. 

MISSIONS, CHAPELS, AND PASTORAL WORK 

After the two pastors had become fully anchored in 
their parish, it became evident to both that as soon as the 
renovating of the old church building should be com- 
pleted, plans must be laid for the expansion of Lutheran- 
ism in Lebanon and vicinity. So in December, 1884, we 
read : "Presented a plan for three missions in Lebanon 
and got it through Council, and on second Christmas, 
through the congregation." Accordingly, steps were 
taken to bring to realization these plans and in 1885 Sun- 
day Schools were started in North Lebanon (which in 
1890 became Trinity Church under the care of Rev. 
Frank M. Seip, son of President Seip of Muhlenberg Col- 
lege), and in Cornwall. In the latter place, the Junior 
pastor did much hard work looking up members, trudging 
over the hills weary and footsore. Those were strenu- 



* At a fair held jointly by the P. O. S. of A. and the local Band, a 
raw silk upholstered easy chair was offered as a prize to the minister of 
the city who should receive the largest vote. He proved to be the favored 
one, but promptly "declined the gift on principle," as he notes in his 
Diary. It added considerably to his prestige. 



I. CH \ 

■° P CO*"'" 








St. Paul's, Annville, and the Missions 



EARLY PASTORATE 47 

ous days and the exhaustion due to his labors was in 
large measure responsible for his severe illness in 1889. 
A congregation at Annville was under the care of the 
two pastors, and in 1889 a mission in East Lebanon 
(which later became St. James' Church) was organized. 
In 1891 another mission school was started at Sunny side. 
By 1886, Trinity mission and the Cornwall mission had 
two inviting chapels. By November, 1890, St. lames' had 
a chapel, and a year later, a church building was turned 
over for use to the Sunnvside mission. 

This kept the young preacher busy, not only with 
the construction of the chapels, every detail of which 
he looked after, but also with pastoral visits, and with 
three or four addresses every Sunday besides his ser- 
mons. After all this successful work, it is not be won- 
dered at that later he was urged by Dr. Seiss, Chair- 
man of the Philadelphia Mission Committee, to become 
a sort of general missionary in that city. He declined, 
believing that he was not fitted for that kind of work 
ami that it would abridge his usefulness in the future. 
He was both mistaken and correct. Had he undertaken 
mission work, he would have eminently succeeded, but 
it would have been at the cost of his much wider use- 
fulness. 

As a pastor, he was very active. In his visitations of 
the sick he was most conscientious and faithful — and 
sympathetic to a marked degree. One of his members 
laid up with a serious disease relates that he braved a ter- 
rible blizzard when few people dared to venture out of 
doors, in order to bring the comforts of the Gospel to 
the sick man. That heroic act of devotion is gratefully 
and admiringly remembered to this day. Similar in- 
stances are mentioned by the older members of Salem. 



48 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

He did much pastoral work previous to organizing 
his catechetical classes. In later years when he was presi- 
dent of the General Council and, after an illness, he 
notes in his diary a day's itinerary that covered a large 
part of Lebanon, looking up catechumens for his class, 
and after the long and tedious tramp says, "I seemed to 
suffer no ill effects." 



CHAPTER VI 
Literary Activities Begin 

Style is the gossamer on which the seeds of truth float through 
the world. In cultivating the form, we should not separate it 
from the substance. True art, ihe most perfect form, it has been 
said, is nothing less than the clearest and most transparent appear- 
ance of the substance. — Schmauk. 

"THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH" 

EARLY in 1885, there appeared in one of the local 
papers a brief article entitled "The Village 
Blacksmith." The writer pictures himself as 
a retired blacksmith who can no longer "make the flame 
roar and the sparks fly," but in whose heart there glows 
a fire. "If I no longer forge the red hot iron, there is 
still an anvil on which I can make the sparks fly." 

This blacksmith was none other than the youthful 
preacher of Salem. He did make the sparks fly. He had 
come to Lebanon to make an impress not only on the 
life of a parish but on the life of a city and a county. 
On his anvil he forged many a weapon with which to 
deal blows at the enemy. "If the strokes of my pen 
are not as heavy as the blows of my hammer, they are 
not as clumsy either, and I can still hit hard and quick." 
One would expect from this a caustic, cynical critic 
of the Carlyle type ; but far from it. He criticizes rather 
like an Addison. There is plenty of good nature and 
pleasantry in it all. When a new mayor is elected, he 
expects him to "do something" worth celebrating a cen- 
tury hence ; he wants the city run as "a business" and 
not to please the politicians ; he wants more genuine 
"public spirit;" he lauds Mr. Coleman for putting Leba- 
E 



50 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

non's mountain of iron into the melting pot to make 
it serviceable to mankind. Then he tells us all about coke ; 
all about tallow candles and electric lights ; all about the 
planting of trees on Arbor Day ; all about the "household 
slave," the "meddlesome gadabout," — he had little use 
for the loquacious talker or gossip — and the "jaunty 
coquette," — he had much less use for the painted butter- 
fly or society woman, punctilious about ceremony but 
deficient in sincerity and life purpose. He whips up 
Lebanon enterprise and shames citizens for allowing nails 
and horseshoes to be bought at Pittsburgh when iron is 
so plentiful near by; and clothing and other articles to 
be bought from John Wanamaker when some Wana- 
maker should be born in Lebanon. He points out eye- 
sores in Lebanon streets and Lebanon buildings. He 
touches up Lebanon history; he wants his readers to 
take pride in the city and in its past. When sick and 
indisposed for a time, he reappears and informs his read- 
ers that something has happened to him akin to what 
happens to a blacksmith when he shoes a horse and gets 
kicked. In all these papers, we see the budding citizen 
who later took so prominent a part in shaping the life 
and policies of the city. 

"HEART GLOW" 

Hardly had the fires of the "Village Blacksmith" died 
out, when a new and different fire was kindled in June, 
1887, and the sparks on the anvil made to fly through 
the columns of The Lutheran. Under the title of "Heart 
Glow Papers," there appeared the first entitled, "O Press, 
Art Thou So Great?" In it he complains that "the news- 
paper is usurping the functions of the Bench, the Pulpit 
and the School." Then follows, for two and a half 
years, a series of nearly a hundred articles on a great 



LITERARY ACTIVITIES 51 

variety of subjects. Here the vein is more serious than 
in "Village Blacksmith." It is often idyllic and idealistic, 
and reveals a studied effort to cultivate literary style. 
But in the main these effusions, while full of the play of 
the imagination, are most stimulating and suggestive. 
Others again are highly informing and reveal a knowl- 
edge of facts and history above the ordinary. Still oth- 
ers show a deep and intelligent appreciation of Church 
events and problems. 

In a lengthy article on "Why Music Moves Us," his 
mind already runs in a channel that prepares us for his 
"Voice in Speech and Song," which appeared in 1890, 
passed through five editions, and received unqualified 
commendation in dozens of periodicals from Boston to 
San Francisco. 

The Graphic of Chicago condensed the thought of 
most of them when it said : "A man who is able to 
write a treatise conveying accurate scientific knowledge 
to an average unscientific reader, in a manner which 
clothes the dry bones of fact with flesh and color, is 
possessed of an admirable faculty." 

In another article, suggested by an experience he had 
had on a train with a charming conversationalist, he 
forecasts what appeared in a publication of his in 1889 
entitled, "Charms and Secrets of Good Conversation." 
Dr. Krotel said of it: "I am ready to pronounce it one 
of the most charming, fresh and original essays I have 
read in a long time." Looking over the list of many re- 
views outside of the Lutheran Church, one finds that Dr. 
Krotel spoke for nearly all of them. Dr. Trumbull of 
the Sunday School Times praised it highly. This book 
speedily passed through its ninth thousand. 

Readers of the Heart Glow Papers were always sure 



52 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

to be treated with the unexpected. Now they read of 
"The Much Resounding Sea;" now of "Bad Breeding 
in Church" ; now of a "Bunch of Synodical Roses ;" now 
of "Star Gazers;" now o>f "Booming the Muhlenberg 
Centennial ;" now of "Sensitive People ;" now of the 
"Devil's Lawyers ;" now of "Velvets and Plushes ;" now 
of an "Unsatisfactory Pastorate." Every now and then 
he plunges into history. Before the Synod met in Lan- 
caster that year more than three pages of The Lutheran 
tell the story of the City's birth and youth and manhood. 
He tells first of all about its royal pretensions ; how "its 
very streets are blooded" — for does it not have a King's, a 
Queen's, a Duke's, a Prince's street? — how the Fathers 
failed "to induce Congress to locate the Capital of the 
United States at Lancaster ;" and finally how Old Trinity 
figured in the history of the Old Mother Synod, through its 
distinguished pastors. Later seventeen long articles on 
Japan appear. One reading them would not guess that 
the writer had never seen Japan. But he did see it 
through the eyes of several friends who wrote descrip- 
tive letters from the Sunrise Kingdom. 

There is something about these Heart Glow Papers — 
a novelty, an oddness, a freshness, a warmth and a charm 
— that makes the heart of the reader glow. You are in 
touch with a soul that burns with the fire of youthful 
energy and enthusiasm. 

CRITICAL AND ANXIOUS DAYS 

"So many worlds, so much to do, 
So little done." 

In October, 1889, the Heart Glow Papers suddenly 
ceased. The last one is dated October 24, 1889. On 
reading it one seems to feel that it suggests a premoni- 
tion of some impending physical breakdown. The above 



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LITERARY ACTIVITIES 53 

quotation is its theme. He then speaks of the many 
worlds in which in this life it is possible to live — the 
world of business, of custom and fashion, of art, of 
science, of mechanics, of philosophy, of amusements; 
"the more important worlds" of history, of law, of love, 
of family life, of citizenship and the boundless world 
of books. Taking a glance at the last-named world, show- 
ing how he kept track of the literature of the day, he 
speaks of the September list of books, (as announced in 
"Dial" by American publishers) as including 28 books 
of biography and memoirs, 20 of history, 9 of political 
and social studies, 4 of economics and finance, 10 of lit- 
erary miscellany, 5 of reference, 26 of fiction, 11 of 
poetry, 10 of travel and observation, 5 of music and art, 
6 of science and philosophy and hygiene, 14 of theology 
and religion, 3 of sporting, 5 miscellaneous, 43 holiday 
books, and 45 of juvenile literature. 

Looking into this world of many worlds, in none of 
which he was a stranger, he says: "All these possibili- 
ties and demands and claims, in all these many worlds 
of thought and action, press themselves upon every edu- 
cated or thoughtful young man of our age. Sometimes 
they press so hard as to crush." Then of the soul who 
yearns to enter them, he says : "The interruptions un- 
foreseen, possibly providential, which will hold him back, 
may affect the earnest struggling soul with cumulative 
force, and break the man in mind, in heart, in hopes, in 
health."* 



* Interruptions that broke into his routine of study or other work always 
proved most annoying to him. This explains why he never cared for 
vacations. Even while a student at the Seminary, he tries to explain 
why, when he is at home in the summer, he is dissatisfied. He then 
writes: "I have been very much perplexed to find the reason but never 
could explain until just now it struck me that my work and my duty are 
here." "When away from his work, a man is not in a normal state." 
When later, in much-impaired health, his physician urged the necessity 
of taking a vacation, he replied: "Why, I do take vacations when I travel 
to and from Philadelphia." 



54 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

It was at this time that he became prostrated with 
typhoid fever. His life hung in the balance for six weeks 
and was despaired of. Those were anxious days, not 
only for the family but for many of his friends in the 
synod and beyond. Prayers went up in his behalf when 
the conference to which he belonged met. Anxious in- 
quiries came in from all sides. He later noted in his 
diary: "I was very sick; for 45 days without anything 
to eat." 

He recovered, but from that time on he ceased to be a 
well man. For three and a half years after this sick- 
ness, he suffered intensely from an open wound in his 
leg which was subject to swellings when not kept in a hori- 
zontal position. He used all sorts of bandages and appli- 
ances to find relief. This illness proved to be the beginning 
of a long series. He became extremely sensitive to colds 
and later in his ministry had one attack of grippe after 
another. These attacks came through exposure to the 
weather and through over-work, but chiefly from over- 
worry. He was subject also to severe attacks of indiges- 
tion. He was taken seriously sick with it when he acted as 
Chancellor at Mt. Gretna, some time in 1895 or 1896, and 
doubts as to his recovery were entertained. In 1902, he 
was so seriously sick that little hope for his life was 
cherished. 

In 1905, when acting as president of the General Coun- 
cil at Milwaukee he had to take refuge in the Passavant 
Hospital where, he says, "Dr. Waters saved my life." In 
1909, he suffered from a serious case of obstruction of the 
bowels and barely escaped with his life. In 1913 he was 
most seriously ill from the 9th of January to the middle of 
February with a similar attack of acute indigestion. In 
the years following, breakdowns were the rule rather 



LITERARY ACTIVITIES 55 

than the exception. The colossal amount of work done 
by him in the last decade of his life was done by an in- 
valid of whom it could not be predicted from one day to 
another whether he would be in the land of the living. 

What sustained him in all his sicknesses was his in- 
domitable will. It kept his mind so completely riveted to 
his work as to make him more or less oblivious to sick- 
ness. He lived almost more out of the body than in the 
body. His mind refused to be bound to its physical 
environment and lost itself in his work. It was wedded 
more closely to his calling than to his body. 

• DR. TRUMBULL AND THE SUNDAY SCHOOL TIMES 

In this period there grew up an intimacy between the 
young Lebanon preacher and the well-known Bible 
scholar and editor of the Sunday School Times, Dr. H. 
Clay Trumbull. This is well worthy of mention. That 
intimacy continued throughout Dr. Trumbull's life and 
had more than a little to do with Dr. Schmauk's later 
interest and development along lines of Sunday School 
work. He doubtless made the acquaintance of Dr. 
Trumbull while a student at the University where the 
latter at times delivered courses of lectures on Bible sub- 
jects. He wrote for the Sunday School Times as early 
as September 24, 1887, when a clear-cut discussion on 
"the dangers of illustration in teaching and preaching" 
appears. About a year later another illuminating ar- 
ticle on "The Teacher as a Student of Motives" is found 
in his scrap-book. 

A long correspondence between the two shows that 
the young literary adventurer was regularly contributing 
editorials for a series of years, probably up to the time 
of his father's death. A letter, dated March 29, 1889, 



56 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

reads thus: "Your editorial on 'Dealings with Dear 
Ones' has won golden opinions from every side. A lady 
in this city, whose judgment I value, wrote and asked my 
permission to reprint it in tract form for private distri- 
bution. She deems it timely, admirable and strong. Mrs. 
Margaret Sangster, who is the new editor of Harper's 
Bazar, and whom you probably know as a poet and gen- 
eral writer, sent her special thanks to the writer of this 
editorial. I congratulate you." Less than a week later, 
Dr. Trumbull writes : "Did it ever occur to you that 
your life-work might be in this editorial field? Do you 
see no possibility of such a thing, I have wondered over 
it. I wonder whether you have." 

The influence which Dr. Trumbull wielded over him 
may be judged by many expressions of admiration that 
fell from his lips, and from frequent quotations of Dr. 
Trumbull's sayings that had made a deep impression on 
him. Among these were two that we often heard him 
utter : "I always keep a big slice of infallibility on my 
editorial table ;" "There are times when a Christian must 
refuse to do good." By the former he simply meant to 
say that an editor should be so sure of his ground that 
he never need take anything back. By the latter he 
meant, that there are often movements set on foot and 
methods adopted to accomplish certain worthy ends 
which forbid a Christian from taking part. 

There was probably no one outside of the Lutheran 
Church whose influence upon his character was more 
potent than that of Dr. Trumbull, with perhaps the single 
exception of Dr. Thompson, his favorite teacher. He 
received from him much inspiration, not only in the way 
of quickening his interest in Sunday School work but 
also in encouraging a thorough study of the Bible and 



LITERARY ACTIVITIES 57 

the critical problems connected with its text and his- 
tory. Dr. Trumbull seems to have been stimulated in 
return, for more than once he craved personal interviews 
in order to discuss with him vital questions concerning 
the Bible which were then much aired in periodicals and 
books. 

Following is Dr. Schmauk's tribute to Dr. Trumbull 
as it appeared in The Lutheran under "Sunday School 
Notes," upon the latter's death. 

MEMORIES OF DR. TRUMBULL 

"Dr. Trumbull was Sunday-school Notes' warmest, dearest, and 
noblest literary friend. The friendship was of Dr. Trumbull's 
seeking. When Sunday-school Notes first began to write, as a 
young man, and his articles were rejected by papers to whom he 
would not now think of offering them, it was Dr. Trumbull, then 
an entire stranger, who discovered, accepted, paid for and pub- 
lished them, who asked for more of them and who encouraged 
the writer in his highest aspirations. 

"Whenever the writer, a youth, called on the busy man, he was 
asked up in the inner office, all work was dropped and several 
hours were spent in heart to heart communion of the most inspir- 
ing kind. 

"The friendship of Dr. Trumbull was of the character which 
finds its happiness in giving, no less than in receiving. His ideals 
of love and friendship were the loftiest. The truth that it was 
nobler to love than to be loved found in him its loveliest living 
exponent. 

"To give comfort and inspiration was of more importance to 
him than to receive it. And yet his heart yearned for sympathy 
and communion. Often would he say, 'Your visits are like oxy- 
gen to me.' Or write, 'Your love in the words by the written 
and printed page help me to go on my way rejoicing, even 
though I do not see you in the flesh, and I am more and more 
your loving friend.' Or again, 'How often I think of you. I 
opened a drawer in my office table today and came upon a letter 
from you, kept there for years.' Or again, 'Your letter gladdened 



58 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

my heart.' Or again, 'You are very often in my thoughts, and 
I often wish I could see you and speak with you.' Or again, 
'I wish I could see you oftener, it would do me good.' Or 
again, 'If I could see you oftener, I believe I could do more.' 
Or again, 'Your letter refreshes me and gives me a good start 
for the week.' Or again, 'You have shown in many ways, in 
earlier and later days, a warmer appreciation of that side of my 
nature, as shown in my writings, that I wanted to have felt, 
than any person I know.' " 

There is scarcely a doubt that in these interviews was 
born the purpose of counteracting the speculations of the 
negative critical school as represented by Cheyne and 
others, which in 1894 resulted in the publication of his 
"Negative Criticism and the Old Testament." He en- 
tered into the preparation of this his first important 
theological work with a zeal and thoroughness that knew 
no bounds. He made himself familiar with all the lead- 
ing higher critics in Germany, England and America, 
and mastered their literature on the subject. Though 
only a little over thirty years of age when he began his 
studies, he displayed a maturity of thought and a range 
of knowledge that was remarkable. At that time, the 
circle of orthodox scholars who were abreast of the 
times on the subject was limited and the book did not 
reach the wide circulation it deserved. Had he waited 
ten years, it would have been otherwise. Those who 
were prepared to appreciate its argument spoke most 
highly of it. The following estimate of the book by Dr. 
Jacobs appeared in The Lutheran Church Review: 

"If this book had been published at Leipzig, or in London, or 
in Edinburgh, it would be conceded the place of one of the first 
books of the year, if not of the decade. Every page shows not 
only careful thought, but also thoroughly trained scientific meth- 
ods. The assumptions of the negative critics are correctly stated, 
and are then subjected to an analysis that is as searching and 



LITERARY ACTIVITIES 59 

relentless as that which these critics glory in applying to Holy 
Scripture. It is all the more severe and the argument is all the 
more overwhelming, because of the entire candor with which 
the strength of the critics in certain directions is conceded. It 
seems as though nothing can be said in their favor, that is not 
to be found here, as the prelude to a complete exposure of their 
real weakness in the sphere where they claim, above all things, to 
speak with authority. 

"The case made by Mr. Schmauk is so strong, that one can- 
not imagine how it could in any way be strengthened. The 
Negative Criticism needs no one to refute it, since this book has 
appeared ; and if it were only extensively circulated, we would 
say that the battle, on the line thus far followed, is over. This 
opinion may seem extravagant; but we believe it to be entirely 
just." 

These beginnings of his literary efforts were but the 
foreshadowings of the later floods of literature that kept 
pouring down upon the press and kept it constantly busy. 
He could drink in more and pour out more in a given 
time than almost any writer of prominence known to 
the Church since the days of Luther. In this period, his 
pamphlet on The Lutheran Church and another on Hyp- 
notism — both characterized by freshness, vivacity and 
force — deserve to be mentioned. 



CHAPTER VII 
As Educator 

THE PENNSYLVANIA CHAUTAUQUA 

Generations, like indimduals, have debts. To educate is to 
pay what we owe those ahead of us to those coming after us. — 
Schmauk. 

ON the northern slope of the South Mountain, ten 
miles from Lebanon, with the well-known health 
resorts of Wernersville at one end of the range 
and those of Pen Mar at the other, there stretches 
"along the green slopes of the hillsides by a brook in 
a lovely glade and above the low-bosomed lake," what 
since 1892 has come to be known as the Chautauqua 
Grounds of Mt. Gretna. Since easy access to Mt. Gretna 
has been provided by the Cornwall and Lebanon Rail- 
road, it has become Lebanon's great park and pleasure 
ground. "It possesses the quiet, majestic beauty of the 
primeval forest. It forms the arc of a vast amphitheater, 
with dark, sheltering hills rising in the rear and grand 
open plateaus unrolling in front. In this pleasure ground 
of unlimited expanse, the massive oak and broad-spread- 
ing chestnut are abundant. The maple and dogwood are 
seen everywhere. Groves of great sighing pines slum- 
ber in stately presence." "A noted botanist has said that 
he knows of no section in the Middle States where a 
greater variety and rarer specimens of plants and flow- 
ers can be found." "The water gushing directly from 
subterranean chambers, deep down in the primitive geo- 
logic rock stratum of which the South Mountain is com- 
posed, is wholesome, and, as all visitors of the park 
declare, the best water they have ever tasted." 




Chancellor Schmauk and His Department Heads, 1895 




Mr. Gretna Chautauqua Faculty, 1896 



AS EDUCATOR 61 

The reader will at once recognize the above descrip- 
tion as that of the young Lebanon preacher who became 
the originator and inspiration and mainstay of what 
proved to be, especially during the summers between 
1892 and 1896, a highly successful Chautauqua, one that 
took rank with the best in the country and had educa- 
tional features of great value which others less serious 
and more bent on providing entertainment and recreation 
did not offer. 

While the suggestion first came from the Pennsylva- 
nia German historian and poet, L. L. Grumbine, and the 
initiative from the General Passenger Agent of the Corn- 
wall and Lebanon Railroad, R. B. Gordon, the real 
creator of the Chautauqua and its master mind was Theo- 
dore E. Schmauk. When Messrs. Grumbine and Gor- 
don first talked the matter over, the former at once 
directed Mr. Gordon to the progressive young Lebanon 
preacher. The result of the interview was the issue of a 
call, signed by Mr. Gordon, on September 12, 1891, for 
a meeting on September 24th "to form a permanent 
organization of a State Chautauqua Society. " A plan 
of organization, outlined, of course, by Schmauk, was 
presented and later adopted in essentials, a stock com- 
pany formed, a charter secured, and the following sum- 
mer, July 12, 1892, the Chautauqua opened, with Dr. 
Warfield of Lafayette College as the first lecturer of an 
elaborate program and Dr. Max Hark as Chancellor. 
As chairman on "organization, constitution and finance," 
young Schmauk took the entire management of the affair 
in hand, with the hearty cooperation of the Rev. Dr. 
George B. Stewart, a Presbyterian preacher of note at 
Harrisburg (and later President of the Theological Semi- 
nary at Auburn, N. Y.), whom he advocated and secured 



62 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

to act as president of the Chautauqua. A warm and 
lasting friendship sprang up between the two, and they 
labored together for four years in closest harmony, and 
brought the Summer School to a high state of efficiency 
and popularity, when both resigned for reasons that will 
presently appear. 

Dr. Stewart writes concerning his friend and co-worker 
as follows : 

"My memories of Theodore are among the most agreeable 
of my life. His remarkable straightforwardness in thinking and 
speaking, his practical common sense coupled with his exact and 
wide scholarship, his earnest piety and keen intellectual interests, 
his uncompromising conscientiousness and gentleness of spirit, his 
marked physical limitations due to ill health and his prodigious 
productiveness of unremitting activity made him a unique char- 
acter. 

"I soon came to trust, to admire and to love him. During the 
five years we were associated together in the Chautauqua work 
we became as brothers, and worked and planned for the interests 
there involved as one man. 

"I regarded him as one of the great souls that I have met. 
There was nothing petty, low, unworthy about his thought, his 
conduct, his character. No one could come into his presence with- 
out realizing at once that he was in the presence of a most ex- 
ceptional and exceptionally able man. He was one of God's noble- 
men, and true disciple of the Lord and Master of us all." 

It was essentially Schmauk's Chautauqua from the 
start. He determined what should be both its name 
and its character — though not without a battle, being 
opposed by two clergymen. He insisted on securing from 
Mr. Coleman its present location south of the lake after 
the latter had offered an unsuitable site. The first pro- 
gram was made out in his office and was his creation. 
He wrote over fifteen hundred letters the first year, and 
over two thousand, the second, in his effort as chairman 
of the Executive Committee to make the Chautauqua a 



AS EDUCATOR 63 

success. He inspired the holding of public meetings in 
Lancaster, Harrisburg, Middletovvn, Reading and Phila- 
delphia to enlarge the membership of the Stock Com- 
pany and to advertise the school. An immense amount 
of labor fell upon his shoulders, for no one could be 
found who could guide and direct affairs as did he. 

After three successful seasons, it was felt that the 
real power behind the throne must now be given the seat 
upon it and handed the scepter, and so it happened that 
he acted as chancellor in 1895. So inspiring was his lead- 
ership and so distinguished and interesting his galaxy 
of teachers, lecturers and entertainers that the fame of 
the School was everywhere noised about, and the attend- 
ance most gratifyingly large. His brief, incisive intro- 
ductory talks on various subjects every morning proved 
to be most popular and he became recognized as a chan- 
cellor without a peer. When Bishop Vincent, the origina- 
tor of the Chautauqua idea, visited the school and made 
addresses, it was whispered about that the old experi- 
enced chancellor had to be content to dwell in the shadow 
of another. 

In 1895 strained relations between the Cornwall and 
Lebanon R. R. and the Chautauqua resulted from the un- 
willingness of the former to forego running Sunday trains 
and to give promised financial support to the project. So 
both the chancellor and Dr. Stewart, the president, de- 
cided that unless the Board insisted that the Railroad must 
come up to its pledge or promise, and would secure the 
needed cooperation, they would resign. Young Schmauk 
appeared before the Board, some of whom were ready 
to make concessions to the Railroad, and made such an 
eloquent and masterly presentation of his case as to call 
forth highest commendation. He prepared a statement 



64 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

to be presented to the Railroad as an ultimatum, and 
with lawyerlike precision and force; but without the 
desired effect. It was then decided that both would resign, 
though not until after they had done all to make the 1896 
Chautauqua a great success. 

The resignation of the chancellor was received with 
universal regret and with earnest petitions that it be 
recalled; for he had won an enviable reputation as a 
most resourceful and efficient leader in this sphere of 
popular education, and it was recognized that with his 
withdrawal a promising future of the Chautauqua must 
needs be rendered very doubtful. Dr. Gerdson was his 
successor; but enthusiasm had very much waned and in 
a few years it resolved itself into a summer resort even 
though it retained the Chautauqua name. One feature 
had characterized it which was lacking in other Chau- 
tauquas. It was the academic educational program which 
made it a real Summer School rather than a recreational 
outing. There were lecture courses on archaeology, his- 
tory, science, philosophy, literature, pedagogy, sociology, 
ethics, Bible literature and religion. 

Any one looking through the handsome prospectus for 
1895 will at once be struck with the high character of 
the School. We notice among the lecturers and teachers 
for that year such Lutheran names as Dr. A. T. Clay, 
the well-known archaeologist; Dr. Elson, author of sev- 
eral popular books on history; Dr. Ettinger of Muhlen- 
berg College who acted as dean of the faculty; Dr. 
Richards of the same institution whose "postprandial 
talks" proved to be a most popular feature ; Professor 
Marks of Allentown, who acted as musical director; 
George Hayes, the chemist; and Rev. John Richards, 
son of the well-known Professor Dr. Richards. Drs. Mc- 



AS EDUCATOR 65 

Knight and Dunbar were members of the Board. In 
the following year Dr. Weidner of Chicago also lectured. 
This Chautauqua experience proved to be but the 
unfolding of Dr. Schmauk's genius as a Christian edu- 
cator. The germs of it lay in his innate passion for the 
spread of useful knowledge when he organized a Liter- 
ary Circle in Lebanon in his early pastorate. He divided 
this Circle into groups for the study of special subjects. 
Later came the University Extension courses which he 
introduced with the help and encouragement of Pro- 
fessor Penniman of his Alma Mater. The impulse that 
drove him into the educational sphere was his ambition 
to affix the Christian stamp to all knowledge and surround 
it with a Christian atmosphere. When at the Seminary, 
he writes to his father: 

"Did you read that article in the American, concerning Free 
Schools? Prof. Thompson evidently thinks our public school 
system is after all not such a glorious institution. There is 
no attempt at moulding a character, at training the will, sweet- 
ening the disposition, ennobling the affections. 'The whole course 
of study is narrowed to a dry intellectualism, and the only am- 
bition is to turn out a set of smart, alert graduates, who have 
had no moral benefit from their school studies.' They are en- 
veloped by a perfumed atmosphere, are not taught to see things 
in life as they really are, and are not even taught to think or 
exercise judgment. A child's education ought to teach it how to 
live — even if it cannot rattle off the distinctions between the 
Camel idae and Camelopardse, or the various bones that compose 
the human skeleton. I do not undervalue an accurate knowledge 
of Nature; but I do not believe it will do a child much good — it 
is useless until one has a knowledge of one's self and of God. 
And worst of all, most of the knowledge they get is not true 
knowledge. 'They deceive themselves and the truth is not in 
them.' 'They possess the form of knowledge, but deny the power 
thereof.' " 
F 



CHAPTER VIII 
As Historian 

NO TRAITOR TO HIS BLOOD 

^'People who will take no pride in the noble achievements of 
remote ancestors, will never achieve anything worthy to be re- 
membered with pride by remote descendants." — Macaulay. 

HE who is willing to forget the rock whence he was 
hewn is a traitor to his blood. Dr. Schmauk 
has given abundant evidence in his career that 
he was no such traitor. 

In an address to Lebanon High School graduates, 
he says : 

"We, the successive generations of 
Lebanon's youth, who have passed through 
its schools, are sprung from a singular 
stock. We are all of one race, for even 
our Scotch townsmen and those in whose 
veins courses the fresh blood of the Emerald Isle, are 
Pennsylvania-Germans, as one of their esteemed repre- 
sentatives pointed out to the Lebanon County Historical 
Society. 

" 'The silent race' — 'the dumb Dutch' — unjustly reviled 
by Francis Parkman, John Fiske, and the author of Tillie 
the Mennonite Maid, Helen Riemensschneider Martin, 
herself out of the heart of Lancaster county, and will- 
ing to sell her birthright for a whiff of fame ; the race 
of whom the historian Bancroft more justly declares, 
'Neither they nor their descendants have laid claim to 
what is due them.' 




AS HISTORIAN 67 

"The man who is ashamed of his own town, and with- 
holds from his own nourishing mother her meed of well- 
earned praise, is either a recreant or a vagabond/' 

None could have been more conscious of the defects 
and shortcomings, from a cultural point of view, of many 
Pennsylvania Germans than was he. He knew wherein 
they lacked, and his endeavor to inspire in them a thirst 
for knowledge and to open to them a larger world than 
the little self -centered one in which many were content 
to live, is directly responsible for his activity as an edu- 
cator among them. He recognized the sturdy elements 
of character that made them staunch and true and reli- 
able, and knew that when their dormant energies were 
once awakened, they would stand second to no racial 
element in this country in intelligence and progressive- 
ness. The history of the Revolution proves it. When 
at the Seminary, he complained to his father that many 
Lutherans of German descent "who think, act and live 
in a manner quite different from the grand old Germans 
of the sixteenth century," fail "to express their true 
aesthetical spirit and genius" in a way that commends 
itself to the best Americans. 

He lamented a tendency, on the other hand, of many 
who, instead of seeking to develop a culture among them 
out of the roots of what was best in their distinctive 
character, assumed an air of superiority over their very- 
kith and kin, at times, and sought to conceal their racial 
origin. He regarded such as traitors to their blood — moral 
weaklings who ape a sort of Yankee imported culture and 
are satisfied chiefly with its shams and pretensions. He 
was not that type of Pennsylvania German. He saw 
the latent possibilities in them, identified himself with 
them, and like a true son of a sturdy race, he took a 



68 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

most prominent part in putting the good Pennsylvania 
German iron ore in their character, that lay crude and 
unformed in its raw state, through a Christian cultural 
process and turning it into steel. 

It was not an accident, therefore, that in the same year 
when, as the natural outcome of his literary-circle and 
university-extension activities, the Chautauqua idea was 
being worked out and was taking form, he should have 
become one of the most promient factors in the organi- 
zation of a Society that should awaken, not a pride of 
ancestry merely but a cultural consciousness born of 
what was truest and best in the Pennsylvania German 
character. While he was not the originator of the idea, 
he became its leading light and spirit as events proved. 
His connection with that Society had much to do to give 
him that wonderful familiarity with Pennsylvania, and 
even national, history which resulted in the issuing of his 
"History of the Lutheran Church in Pennsylvania." 
This monumental work, involving a colossal amount of 
research, appeared in 1903 ; but in its initial stages, it in 
part appeared as a publication of the Pennsylvania Ger- 
man Society in 1901, and in part also in his "Early 
Churches of the Lebanon Valley" which appeared a year 
later — both showing the preliminary preparation for the 
most thorough treatment of this subject extant. It is 
almost the last word that remained to be said of the 
pioneer history of Lutheranism in this country. The 
inspiration and incentive for its preparation are to be 
traced to his connection with this Society. It is meet, 
therefore, that something should be said about the origin 
of that Society and of the prominent part he played 
in its history and achievements. 

When on December 17, 1890, the public schools of 



AS HISTORIAN 69 

Lebanon and Reading celebrated the eighty-third birthday 
of the poet Whittier, there appeared, the next day, in the 
Lebanon Daily Report, Lee L. Grumbine, Esq., editor, 
the following comment : 

"We love Whittier for his justice to the Pennsylvania 

Germans. People who sneer at the Pennsylvania Germans do 
not know that a society of Pennsylvania Dutch 'Friends' or Dunk- 
ards was the first religious body in America to express their 
outraged feelings and indignation in words of stern denunciation 
of that national infamy — African slavery. When ignorance and 
prejudice are dead and truth gets a hearing, it will 'be esteemed 
an honor to be called the son of a Pennsylvania Dutchman." 

When three days later, December 31st, "Forefathers' 
Day," in memory of the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, 
was celebrated in certain parts of the country, there ap- 
peared an editorial in the Report on December 26th, part 
of which reads thus : 

"The Pennsylvania Dutchman not only occupies one-half of 
the State, but his descendants have migrated north, east, south, 
and west, so that it is almost impossible to go to any state 
or territory in the Union without finding a son of a Pennsyl- 
vania Dutchman. It is a remarkable fact that history scarcely 
mentions this important factor of the population of our country. 
If we read the history of our land, we hardly learn that a Ger- 
man immigration to America and the foundation of a German 
settlement in Pennsylvania ever took place. There may be a 
reason for this, but there can be no excuse." 

A day later, he "urges the organization of a society of 
the descendants of the German Palatines" as follows : 

"We pointed out yesterday the inaccuracy and the injustice of 
the historian in not giving credit in the history of national and 
state development to so important a factor as the Pennsylvania 
German. It is our purpose, if possible, to call public attention 
to this studied omission, and to arouse an interest in the public 
mind that will command our rightful place in history. . . We 



70 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

would urge the need of fostering a feeling of an ancestral pride 
and a spirit of loyalty to the blood of the German-born pil- 
grims from whom so many of our people have descended. How? 
By organizing societies — general and local — for the purpose of 
bringing out and preserving facts of historical interest and of 
emphasizing the achievements of our forefathers and their sons ; 
by holding great public celebrations to rehearse the story of 
their sorrows, their sufferings, their sacrifices, and their success, 
in speech and song, in poetry and history." 

Later, on January 21, 1891, he renews the agitation 
for the organization of the sons of the Pennsylvania Ger- 
mans. The Philadelphia Inquirer caught up the idea with 
favor; then on January 31st the Lancaster New Era, 
F. R. Diffenderfer, Litt.D., editor, "seconds the motion ;" 
then the Bethlehem Times "falls in line" and calls for a 
"Pennsylvania German Society." Then appears an en- 
thusiastic article in the Harrisburg Telegraph by the State 
Librarian, Dr. W. H. Egle advocating speedy organi- 
zation. 

Next we read of a meeting of Dr. Diffenderfer, Dr. 
Egle, Dr. Stahr of Franklin and Marshall College, Dr. 
Buehrle, superintendent of the Public Schools of Lan- 
caster, Dr. Hark of the Moravian Church and Dr. Lyte 
of the Millersville State Normal School in the editorial 
rooms of the New Era on February 14, 1891, and the 
following letter reaches the younger Schmauk: 

Lancaster, Pa., February 14, 1891. 
"The Rev. Theo. Schmauk: — 

"My Dear Sir:— 

"Dr. W. H. Egle, of Harrisburg, State Librarian, President 
John F. Stahr, D.D., of Franklin and Marshall College, Prof. 
E. O. Lyte, of Millersville State Normal School, and two or 
three others, came together this afternoon, and after consul- 
tation decided to invite a few representatives of the Pennsyl- 
vania German element in the several counties of our State, 



AS HISTORIAN 71 

in which that element is prevalent, to attend a preliminary 
meeting at 36 West Orange Street, Lancaster, on Thursday, 
February 26, 1891, at 10 A. M., for the purpose of discussing 
the advisability, ways and means of organizing a 'Pennsyl- 
vania German Historical Society' You are therefore most 

earnestly invited to attend' this> preliminary meeting. .. .It is 
very important that your county should be represented among 
the organisers of this movement. I sincerely hope you will 
make it possible to be with us. 

"Yours, 
"Very sincerely, 

"J. Max Hark." 

At this meeting, suggestions were made that the name 
of the proposed organization be the "Pennsylvania Dutch 
Society" and that the proceedings be conducted in the 
Pennsylvania German dialect. Here is where young 
Schmauk stepped to the fore, and in forceful and con- 
vincing manner, assisted by Dr. Hark and others, stood 
for the name "Pennsylvania German" and for the more 
scholarly and historical ideal of the best minds, that "the 
Society should represent that which is loftiest in the 
character and achievement of the fathers rather than 
that which was merely odd and quaint." That idea pre- 
vailed. 

At that meeting, it was decided to issue a call for the 
organization of such a Society on April 15th, 1891, in 
the Court House at Lancaster, and there was born what 
is known as "The Pennsylvania German Society." The 
call, with Schmauk as chairman to give it its final form, 
reads in part as follows: 

"It is eminently proper that the descendants of these Ger- 
man-Swiss people should associate themselves in memory of 
those who 'made the wilderness blossom as the rose,' to show 
to the offspring of other nationalities that they are not behind 
them in any of the attributes which go to make up the best 



72 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

citizens of the best State in the best Government of the world. 
In the art of printing, in the realm of science and letters, in 
religious fervor, in pure statesmanship, in war and in peace, 
the Pennsylvania-German-Swiss element has equalled any other 
race. 

"It has long been everywhere recognized by the descendants 
of the early American colonists as a matter of great importance 
to -effect organizations of the character we propose, for the 
purpose of searching out and preserving all ancestral records; 
for the purpose of bringing their forefathers into such recog- 
nition in the eyes of the world, and especially of their own 
children, as they deserve; for the purpose of developing the 
friendly and fraternal spirit that should exist between those 
in whose veins the same blood flows; for the purpose of lifting 
history, now unnoticed or unknown, into honor ; and, very par- 
ticularly, for the purpose of preserving to posterity the old 
public records, landmarks and memorials, which in another 
generation will have entirely disappeared." 

It would take us too far afield to go into details as 
to the work of this historical society ; but Dr. Schmauk's 
connection with it and his leadership in it, especially when 
crises arose that threatened to impair its usefulness, 
proved to be of such value both to himself and to the 
Society that some knowledge of the origin and aims of 
this organization seems necessary in order to furnish a 
proper perspective on which to set in relief his influence 
and usefulness during this period. He ever strove to keep 
the Society true to its professed aims and ideals,, and 
naturally took less interest in the social features at the 
annual banquets. 

The seriousness with which he entered into this work 
is illustrated by an incident that occurred at the meeting 
of the Society in Lebanon on October 12th, 1892. When 
the election of members to the Executive Committee was 
proceeding, there was much conversation indulged in 



AS HISTORIAN 73 

and little attention paid to what was going on. He hap- 
pened to be elected a member of that Committee but was 
so dissatisfied with the apparent lack of interest taken in 
the election that he declined to accept the office. This 
necessitated a second election under a more orderly and 
serious mode of procedure, and he then accepted. He 
at once became a leading factor in determining the policy 
and activity of the Society, and in 1895, upon the resig- 
nation of Dr. Hark, was elected chairman of the Execu- 
tive Committee. He served in this capacity up to the 
time of his death, save in the year 1896 when he was 
elected President of the Society. He proved to be the 
man at the helm, master of all the details of the Society's 
workings, keeping it true to its course. 

Dr. Schmauk always inspired confidence by his won- 
derful mastery of details and his wide range of knowl- 
edge when presiding at the meetings of the Executive 
Committee. When by means of a proposed amendment 
to the Constitution an attempt was made to displace use- 
ful members of the Committee to gratify the personal 
ambitions of others, he stood like a rock against it and 
in a powerful and convincing speech maintained that 
the amendment stood not for "a judicious but a forcible 
introduction of new blood;" that "not freshness but tried 
efficiency" should be the requirement demanded ; that 
there "should be as little fluctuation as possible where 
faithful service is being rendered. Continuity of service 
is what is wanted." 

A letter we received from a lay member of the Execu- 
tive Committee of more than ordinary intelligence, after 
he had learned of his death, while naturally a little 
excessive in its admiration, shows the great confidence 
that was reposed in his leadership. It reads in part : 



74 



THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 



"In my work as a member of the Executive Committee 
of the Pennsylvania German Society, I learned to know 
and admire Dr. Schmauk, and his death means to me a 
distinct personal loss. To the Church it is nothing less 
than the falling of a mighty pillar. I always thought 
he was too big even for the Church. The chair of Presi- 
dent of the United States would not have been too big 
a place for him and he could have worthily represented 
his country as Ambassador to England or Germany. ,, 
We have heard other laymen of intelligence talk after 
this fashion, though it should be evident that no man is 
ever half big enough for the Church. 

THE LEBANON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

When the work of the 
Pennsylvania German So- 
ciety was well under way, 
it was inevitable that a local 
historical society should 
come into existence, and 
under the inspiration and 
leadership of the younger 
Schmauk, who had already 
become familiar with every 
inch of historic ground in 
and around Lebanon, there was organized on Janu- 
ary 14th, 1898, the "Lebanon County Historical 
Society." Its aims and objects are set forth in great 
detail in its constitution. Among the Lutheran clerical 
members besides Dr. Schmauk that proved to be especially 
active were the Revs. F. J. F. Schantz and P. C. Croll. 

There was no lack of effort to show forth the merits 
of Lebanon County and the part its citizens played in 
the war of the Revolution. He who did so much to keep 




AS HISTORIAN 75 

this Society interested and active, and to create a sense 
of pride in Lebanon County history, proclaims its merits 
in words like these : 

"The agricultural skill of the county has all the German in- 
dustry Pennsylvanians can give it, and there is no higher en- 
comium. Nowhere else in the United States are the farms in such 
condition. Barns almost like castles in their magnitude, and mag- 
nificent in their beauty and adornment, and outbuildings all show 
the same disregard of expense, and on many the barn alone will 
far exceed, in expense and attractions, the entire establishment 
of a well-to-do New England or New York farmer. 

"At Cornwall is found what used to be known as the most re- 
markable and valuable body of iron ore in the world. It has been 
constantly working for a period antedating the Revolution. In 
the days of 1776 cannon and ammunitions of war were furnished 
the colonists by the proprietors of Cornwall. 

"Limestone finest in the world for the fluxing of iron and for 
making of cement. 

"In the War of Independence many of the citizens of Lebanon 
County were in the ranks of the patriot army. Immense supplies 
were sent from this locality for the brave men at Valley Forge 
and White Marsh. 

"After the Battle of Trenton a large number of Hessians were 
confined in Salem Lutheran Church here and in the Moravian 
Church at Hebron. Colonel Greenawald, Colonel Philip DeHaas, 
and Philipp Marsteller were the great military men of the day. 
The latter served as a commissary of purchases almost during the 
entire war." 

The thoroughness with which he entered into the work 
of the Society, and the keen insight and historic instinct 
with which he was endowed, were clearly manifested 
when the adopting of a seal was under discussion. A 
sketch had been submitted with the Goddess of History 
as the central figure. Of this he says : "It is an ele- 
gant, artistic and very happy conception. The Goddess 
looks back into all the noble deeds of the past and pro- 



76 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

claims their praises in trumpet tones to the present gen- 
eration." Then follow nine reasons why it is not suit- 
able. They reveal fine taste and an artistic sense of the 
divine fitness of things that make them worthy of 
publication. 

"1. Not sufficently patriotic, but a foreign conception. There 
is nothing of the Greek spirit of learning in our history or tra- 
dition. Pennsylvania German Lebanon County runs back else- 
where in its traditions and is too plain and matter of fact for 
the elegance, not to say the voluptuousness, of Greek art. 

"2. Not sufficently democratic, but artist oc rati c. The classical 
conception of the Goddess is for college graduates, far away from 
the atmosphere of common people, and is the very reverse of the 
atmosphere and surroundings in which Lebanon County Was 
cradled. 

"3. An engrafting of heathen mythology upon the plain piety 
of our forefathers. I do not advocate the typifying of religion in 
our seal, but if it is to be typified, the religion of the old Bible 
and Prayer Books which gave our fathers courage and strength in 
their journeys across the seas and through the wilderness should 
be the one symbolized. 

"4. Clio, the Muse of History, was represented with a roll or 
wax tablets in one hand, but also with trumpets in the other and 
with a wreath of laurel around her brow. 

"5. She was upon the mountains, and not in the valley. The 
mountains were either her original home on snow-capped Mt. 
Olympus (the seal is not snow-capped), or on the temple-crowned 
grove of Mt. Helicon. She would be lost and starved upon this 
bare mount. 

"6. The connection in thought between Mt. Lebanon, with its 
ever green cedars, and our valley after which it was named, is a 
very beautiful one, if there were only some point in actual re- 
ality to which it corresponded. But we are a valley, mountain- 
fringed, and not a mountain ; and our people and deeds are those 
of the valley and not those of the mountaineer. 

"7. The combination of the Greek figure and the Mountain of 
Lebanon is a mixed figure or hybrid, which might provoke some 
criticism, if not amusement, if our Society ever came under hostile 



AS HISTORIAN 77 

fire. To transfer a Hebrew prophet to Greek soil, as Paul went to 
Athens, would perhaps be legitimate; but to transfer a Greek 
Muse to the soil of the Old Testament is unusual, and without 
some underlying cause, would be difficult to explain. 

"8. At most, the whole of the historical substance repre- 
sented by a seal such as this would be a combination of the gen- 
eral subject History with the name Lebanon. The specific es- 
sence, the substance as contrasted with the form would be missed ; 
and our Society would become identified more with those gen- 
eral Historical Societies which are found in colleges and towns, 
and which discuss historical questions of all countries and of 
all ages under the name 'Clionian.' 

"9. The seal has the two merits of attractiveness and sim- 
plicity; but it lacks in manliness on the human side, and in the 
sunny cheer of the valley on the side of nature. 

"10. I tried to work myself into the conception of the seal, 
but every time the picture of our sturdy, sensible, pious, matter- 
of-fact forefathers, who were transforming the earth, and not 
romancing in the regions of art, came up before my mind. I was 
not satisfied, but at sea, until, getting at the matter in a logical 
and heraldic way, I began investigating the executive seals of 
Lebanon County and of the State, to ascertain whether they 
would afford us any precedent. 

"The original seal of Pennsylvania, used in the provincial 
period, had as its chief device the Penn coat of arms found on 
the seal of the Pennsylvania German Society. 

"The Pennsylvania coat of arms appeared first in 1777 printed 
on an issue of paper money, compose mainly of a shield. 

"In 1778 Caleb Lowens prepared a design which served as the 
basis of all subsequent modifications. 

"The first engraved coat of arms in 1777 is now the seal of the 
Pennsylvania Society of New York, and is, in my judgment, very 
beautiful. 

"I found our County using the State seal and the County name 
in all its executive departments. 

"Here then was the natural, historical and heraldic 'base, from 
which to proceed to express Lebanon County and that for which 
we stand in Lebanon County." 



78 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

There was no getting away from the force of this 
presentation, and the above seal, with the Pennsylvania 
coat of arms and the American eagle on top of the volume 
of history to be written, with Lebanon County's iron 
industry represented on one side of the page and its farm- 
ing industry on the other, while less classical but more 
true to nature and fact than the one submitted, became 
the insignia of the Society. 



CHAPTER IX 
Editor and Sunday School Leader 

The Lutheran Church in America has an open door before it. 
The public schools in many places will not receive children under 
six years of age; and in many other places are very glad if 
children are educated privately up to the age of seven years. This 
affords the Church her great opportunity for laying the founda- 
tions of a sound Christian and evangelical faith in the hearts 
of the little ones. — Christian Kindergarten. 

WHEN in the fall of 1895, the General Council 
met at Easton, Pa., four new responsibilities 
devolved upon him. His well-known interest 
in Sunday School work and his intelligent grasp of its 
needs and problems naturally inclined the Council to 
look to him as leader in this important field, and he 
was elected a member of the Sunday School Committee. 
As the development of this work proved to be of great 
importance in the years that followed, more will be said 
later. 

Another task of great importance was assigned to him 
by the Alumni Association when he was made editor 
of The Lutheran Church Review, with the faculty of 
the Philadelphia Seminary as his associates. This started 
him more fully than ever on the way of grappling with 
theological and other questions of deep concern to the 
Church. For more than twenty- four years he kept 
fully abreast of the religious literature of the day and 
constantly aimed to touch upon a great variety of sub- 
jects of theological and practical interest. 



80 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

He started on his career as editor, by at once assign- 
ing tasks to a large number of writers. He naturally 
asked Dr. Krotel for some article on a subject of his 
own choosing. The following is the latter's character- 
istic reply: "What shall I write? If I were like you, 
and could play on a harp of a thousand strings, or had 
an organ like your own, with three manuals and I know 
not how many stops, I would not be at a loss." 

In the four issues of 1896, there appear symposiums 
on "Education," on "The Lutheran Church's Relation 
to the Denominations," on "Prevalent Errors in the 
Pulpit," and, as was to be expected, on "The Sunday 
School." His "Editorial Points of View," which ap- 
peared in every issue for some years, proved to be es- 
pecially stimulating and interesting and were the chief 
attraction for most of the readers of the Review. They 
could always be counted on to pay their respects to the 
liberal theology of the day — and to good account. When 
in 1897, the Church's mind reverted to the birth of 
Melanchthon four hundred years ago, one was not sur- 
prised to be treated with a symposium on "Melanchthon 
and the Church Fathers." When Hasting's Bible Dic- 
tionary appeared in 1901, it was to be expected that Dr. 
Schmauk should expose its rationalism and condemn 
the choice of scholars of the liberal school by its editors, 
to deal with vital subjects, while they excluded writers 
of conservative tendencies. All through the following 
years, the reader was sure to have surprises sprung 
upon him by the introduction of some new feature. In 
the January issue of 1902, for instance, there appeared 
a most interesting "Editorial Survey of the Year 1901." 
Similar surveys appeared for the next three years, 
and much regret was expressed when the editor failed 




'A Face; Familiar To Children' 



EDITOR AND SUNDAY SCHOOL LEADER 81 

to continue to interpret leading events in like fashion 
in the years that followed. 

When in 1903 he was elected President of the General 
Council, as Dr. Jacobs correctly says, "We can trace a 
difference between the policy pursued when the respon- 
sibility for his utterances was limited chiefly by his in- 
dividual obligations and that which guided him from 
1903." "He writes from that time more with the con- 
sciousness and authority of official position, and that 
the Journal which he edits is regarded as an organ of 
the body over which he presides." 

A third important place he was asked to fill at the 
meeting of the Council in 1895 was that of membership 
in the Church Book Committee, which later also made 
him a member of the Joint Committee which produced 
the "Common Service Book and Hymnal." In this 
sphere, he proved to be deeply interested and active. 
He kept in touch with the progress of the work down 
to its minutest details, though the burden of the work 
was placed upon other shoulders. 

As it was at the suggestion of Dr. H. E. Jacobs that 
he was appointed a member, and as both were closely 
associated together from that time on to the day of his 
death, we have asked Dr. Jacobs to furnish us with an 
estimate of the services he rendered. It is as follows : 

Notwithstanding his numerous other engagements, his attend- 
ance at the meetings was very regular. Making no claim to 
scholarship in Liturgies or Hymnology, and pleading his inability 
to give more attention to details than at the sessions of the com- 
mittee, he did no constructive work; but was an invaluable critic 
and adviser, where others took the initiative. To such criticism 
he brought strong, positive and clear convictions on the doctrines 
involved, and the constant demand for their expression in precise 
and vigorous English. 

While not indifferent to the value of historical precedents, he 
G 



82 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

claimed that all the freedom of the Gospel must be exercised in 
adapting what is rooted in the past to present issues. The accu- 
mulation of authorities weighed little, except as it was fruitful 
in suggestions that could be utilized. The consensus of the pure 
Lutheran liturgies of the Sixteenth Century, was to him a guide, 
but not a matter of absolute law. It was no unusual thing to 
hear him challenge a committee which submitted a formula, ap- 
proved by abundant literary support, to break through the traces, 
and to do for today what Luther and his associates did for their 
day and land. 

While the effect of his cooperation has left its trace throughout 
every part of the book, his most important contribution was in 
the scheme for the arrangement of the hymns, where, instead of 
the outline of Dogmatics followed in the most of our previous 
books, he insisted upon, and carried after a very stubborn struggle, 
the order of the Church Year, as exhibiting the Life of our 
Lord as reproduced in the life of the believer, and of the entire 
Church. The consequence of this was that his Eschatology was 
anything but pessimistic. To him it meant the clearness and cer- 
tainty of the Christian's faith with respect to his future. It is 
life, eternal life begun in regeneration, pressing through death, 
resurrection, judgment, etc., to its consummation in its complete 
glorification. Hence the hymns of this section are characterized 
by few of the minor notes that are heard in many of the classical 
hymns both of the Mediaeval and the Reformed Church, as well 
as in some of Pietistic Lutheranism. 

The fourth responsibility with which he was en- 
trusted at that meeting was to act as a member of the 
"Committee of Ways and Means" appointed to secure 
funds and make possible the publication of an official 
organ of the General Council, of which Dr. H. E. Jacobs 
was elected the Editor-in-Chief and Rev. George W. 
Sandt the Managing Editor. He at once became the 
chief adviser of the latter, who was charged with the 
duty of raising a guarantee fund of $10,000, and was 
made the chief promoter of the new enterprise. When 
Dr. Jacobs came out in the columns of The Workman 



EDITOR AND SUNDAY SCHOOL LEADER 83 

as being unwilling to assume the responsibility of acting 
as Editor-in-Chief, Schmauk, Jr., suggested to the Man- 
aging Editor the advisability of gracefully retiring from 
the project. Upon being informed by the latter that in 
resigning as pastor of St. John's Church, Wilkes-Barre, 
to take effect January 1, 1896, he had "already burned 
the bridges behind him," the former promptly changed 
front and with the entire Committee of Ways and 
Means behind him determined that the official organ 
must become a fact. He at once got into communication 
with Dr. Krotel and, upon securing his consent and the 
endorsement of the Committee, the Managing Editor was 
instructed to secure, if possible, the votes of the Staff 
Correspondents for Dr. Krotel's election. Thus chiefly 
through his efforts a new head was secured, and by Octo- 
ber of 1896 the official organ of the General Council 
became a fact. 

The Editor of the Review became not only the Liter- 
ary Editor of The Lutheran, but contributed many 
articles, from time to time, to its columns. Upon the 
death of Dr. Krotel in 1907, Dr. Schmauk, then president 
of the General Council, became, at the request of the 
Managing Editor, who was made Editor-in-Chief, the 
latter's staunchest supporter and helper. At intervals, 
when sickness or absence made it necessary for the 
Editor to find a substitute, Dr. Schmauk, in spite of 
his multiplying duties, was always at hand to give the 
needed assistance. He was given all the liberty of action 
he might desire and in no single instance did he abuse it. 
He was invited to be the critic of The Lutheran, and of 
this privilege he took the fullest advantage. Long letters 
at times reached the editorial office, revealing a wonder- 
fully keen and comprehensive grasp of problems and 



84 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

situations, and more than once came a letter with elec- 
tric flashes of lightning when he and the Editor did not 
happen to agree — and the latter were often far more 
interesting than the former. They quite frequently 
were a thermometer to indicate that either grippe, (his 
chronic ailment, often induced by over-worry rather 
than by over-work) or some other physical disability 
was knocking at his door. These lightning flashes, and 
invariably the cooling showers that followed them, are 
prized today as the finest evidence of a great loving heart 
in travail for the safety and welfare of the Church he 
so dearly loved and so unselfishly served. 

PIONEER IN GRADED SUNDAY SCHOOL INSTRUCTION 

It was at the Easton Convention of the General Coun- 
cil in 1895 that Dr. Schmauk became interested in and 
identified with the work of providing a literature for the 
Sunday Schools of the Church. 

At this convention, the plans formulated in 1888 at 
Minneapolis, in which the previous practice of the 
Church in the observance of the Church Year and the 
recommendation of a Graded Course of instruction 
based on the historic principles and practices of the 
Church, came up for discussion. 

Dr. Schmauk had been a close student of child psy- 
chology and was keenly interested in the children of 
the Church and their proper training. He took an 
active and important part in the discussion, and mani- 
fested a grasp of the subject and an interest in the work 
which insured for him membership in the committee. 
At a very early day he became the editor, and by 1899 
both editor and chairman of the Committee. He was 
thus placed in a position which resulted in his thorough 
study of the whole problem of Religious Education in 



EDITOR AND SUNDAY SCHOOL LEADER 85 

its Relation to the Child. He became the incarnation 
of the historic and fundamental principles of religious 
education and from the day of his entrance upon the 
work to the last moments of his life, the subject was 
upon his heart and mind and was given the largest 
share of his time, thought, and energy. 

Within the first biennium the Scripture Lesson Quar- 
terlies for senior classes, following a strict church year 
plan, were developed and had been most cordially re- 
ceived by the Church. A general plan for graded text 
books and quarterlies had also been mapped out. This 
included a primary apparatus in grades with large pic- 
ture charts for the upper class in the primary. It also 
took into consideration the catechism as an essential part 
of instruction. 

That the editor had a vision for the future is seen 
in the fact that at this early stage provision was not 
only made for furnishing the literature in other lan- 
guages, especially German and Swedish, but also with a 
view to securing a common and purely Lutheran graded 
literature for the entire Lutheran Church. In 1897 con- 
ferences with other Lutheran bodies were authorized on 
the recommendation of the committee, with a view to 
substituting a purely Lutheran literature for other sys- 
tems in use if this were deemed desirable. 

In 1899 Dr. Schmauk as chairman made a voluminous 
report. In this report we see the evidence of how with 
his characteristic thoroughness he was going to the 
sources and to the bottom of things. He brings out the 
fact that the General Council first took up the problem 
of providing Sunday School literature officially in 1869 
and that work anticipatory had been done in 1868 or 
one year after the formation of the Council. The ap- 



86 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

pearance of the "International Lessons" in 1873, which 
marked an epoch in Sunday School work, proved an 
incentive to the committee which began a series of 
"Church Lesson Leaves" in 1877. He quotes the fol- 
lowing as the action then taken: "All our Sunday 
Schools ought to be distinctively Church schools. Our 
own doctrines ought to be exclusively taught in them. 
No other than our own Sunday School books, lesson 
leaves and papers should be used in them." 

OPPOSES THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM 

From the start he clearly grasped the sound idea, 
that knowledge of the Bible should be formed in the 
mind and built up like a cathedral, with all parts prop- 
erly related to its central substance, and not like a 
shapeless pile of stones lacking cohesion and unity. He 
accordingly felt that the Church Year should become 
the framework around which that knowledge should be 
constructed. He naturally opposed the International 
System of lessons, which sacrificed the Christo-centric 
principle of instruction to the uniform theory. In a 
letter to an assistant superintendent of a Lutheran Sun- 
day School in New York City, who desired to know the 
"basic differences between our system and the Inter- 
national," he gives the following illuminating answer: 

1 . We make the living and the saving Word of God our center, 
rather than teaching the Bible as a book. Hence we put the 
Gospel first. We study the New Testament in that part of the 
year in which the schools are full. We lay stress on the New 
Testament. 

The International system deals with the Bible as a book, rather 
than with God's Word that is within it. The Blakesly system 
emphasizes the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles, and what 
to our mind is the ecclesiastical side of Christianity. 

2. We conform our teaching, in a general manner, to the 



EDITOR AND SUNDAY SCHOOL LEADER 87 

Church Year, and to its festivals. This is the Lutheran way. 
So far as possible, we begin the study of the life of Christ with 
Advent and Christmas and we continue with the life and teachings 
of Christ, and with His suffering, death and resurrection through 
the seasons devoted to a commemoration of those great saving 
facts. 

The International system does not recognize that the Church 
Year is a medium for the Christian living over again the life 
of his Lord, and, although of late years it has accommodated 
itself to popular demand by giving Christmas lessons on Christ- 
mas and Easter lessons on Easter, it only touches the outer hem 
of the devout life of a churchly Christian in so doing. 

3. The two great elements for instructing Christian youth are 
first the doctrine of the Scripture, which we have in Luther's 
Catechism, and the examples or life of the Scripture, which we 
have in Bible history. In our system we regulate things largely 
according to these two leading points. 

4. Our system believes that there ought to be a regular order 
of progress, with a definite goal, to Sunday-school work, begin- 
ning with the simplest and most concrete truth for the child and 
advancing, with the mental and spiritual advance of the child, 
to that which is more mature. 

The International system is a wilderness of Bible verses, be- 
ginning nowhere, and ending nowhere. It is treading continu- 
ously through the wilderness. The Blakesly system has an order, 
and makes progress, but its progress is in a circle, recurring every 
three years, and not progress according to the natural unfolding 
of the child's mind. 

5. Our fundamental principle . is a gradation of matter and 
an adaptation of method to the various stages of the developing 
child-mind. We believe in giving milk to the babes and meat to 
the strong. 

This cannot be done on the uniform lesson plan of the Inter- 
national system. Either the meat or the milk will then be lack- 
ing. There is something in Scripture for every age and condi- 
tion of man. We take the story material that is suitable for the 
very little ones and present it to them. Then comes the story 
material for the older ones. Then comes the history which is 
stories woven together. 

Then comes the biography which is an analysis of character. 



88 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

Then comes the teaching or doctrines of Scripture. Finally there 
comes an outline of the contents of each book of Scripture, so 
that the scholar gets an idea of the book of the Bible as a whole, 
and from the point of view from which its writer originally in- 
tended it to be read and used, before he goes into a detailed study 
of the text. 

Our system was begun in the year 1895. It is the pioneer of 
all graded systems, though no pains have been taken to announce 
it outside of the Lutheran Church. It was developed after an 
intimate examination of the International system. It has been 
perfected more and more every year, but is not perfect now, nor 
will it ever be perfect. Improvement will be made continuously, 
as strength and resources and insight accumulate. 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SYSTEM 

With emphasis laid in the beginning on the Senior 
and the Primary work, and a gradual development of 
the Intermediate Grade Text Books, the entire graded 
apparatus was developed as a comprehensive whole, 
every grade and the special lessons in the various grades 
all being part of a general and comprehensive plan of 
presenting the whole Bible in a systematic way and 
graded and adapted to the child mind in its normal de- 
velopment. 

In the construction of the Graded System Dr. Schmauk 
drew upon his extended study and experience and suc- 
cessfully enlisted various trained minds and experts in 
religious pedagogy ; but through the entire work the . real 
architect was Dr. Schmauk himself. 

The books appeared in regular order, their very titles 
indicating the unity of the series and the harmonious 
development. The intermediate grades were issued in 
the order of their use in the schools which thus pro- 
gressed through the Graded System as it was developed, 
as follows: Bible Story, (1897) ; Bible History, (1898) ; 



EDITOR AND SUNDAY SCHOOL LEADER 89 

Bible Geography, (1899); Bible Biography, (1901); 
Bible Teachings, (1902) ; Bible Literature, (1903) ; Bible 
Readings, a supplementary Grade inserted between 
Story and History, appeared in 1905 ; Bible Facts and 
Scenes, a simplified Bible Geography, appeared in 
1906. The latter book is still very popular and is used 
in institutions and as a teacher's book. In 1912 a sim- 
plification of Bible Literature appeared under the title 
of Bible Outlines. 

Meanwhile a German translation of Bible Story and 
of Bible Readings had appeared, also a Swedish Bible 
Story, and the literature in some of its grades was asked 
for in Icelandic, also in Telugu, Japanese and Spanish. 
The Primary work begun simultaneously with the inter- 
mediate Grades very soon took form in the Three Grade 
Primary Department. These three grades are known re- 
spectively as Wonderland, Workland, Pictureland, hav- 
ing their corresponding literature for the children in 
Sunbeams, Sunshine and Sunrays. Sunrays corresponds to 
the large Picture Charts in the development of which 
Dr. Schmauk displayed not only his knowledge of the 
Bible and the Bible stories, but his familiarity with the 
great and the beautiful in art illustrative of the Scrip- 
tures. Many extended trips were made to find and 
examine pictures, as well as to the plant of the lithog- 
raphers many miles distant. It was thus that he kept 
his hand on every detail of the work. While many 
writers were used and gave mature thought to the con- 
tents of the books which bear their names as the 
authors, these were like skilled workmen laboring under 
the supervision of the general architect and superin- 
tendent. 

In the complete plan, provision was made for the 



90 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

child at the earliest moment of its existence. Hence in 
1910 there appeared the foundation book, "In Mother's 
Arms," a book which is for the mothers of babes from 
birth to two years of age. It emphasizes the content 
of baptism and begins in the true Lutheran way with 
the new birth. "At Mother's Knee," the second book 
dealing with the child from two to four years of age, 
was vividly and completely thought out in the mind of 
this great pedagogue ; but unfortunately his multitudi- 
nous and important duties and increasing burdens in the 
later important developments in the Church wherein he 
figured as a major factor, prevented the actual writing of 
the book. Much material has been gathered and the hope 
is that one of those formerly associated with him may 
be able to work out this volume and at least find and 
give to the Church the salient features of that which 
Dr. Schmauk had in mind. 

A most interesting and illuminating side light on the 
versatility of Dr. Schmauk is to be noted in connection 
with the preparation of the little treatise "In Mother's 
Arms," a book dealing with youngest infancy in 
the most tender and affectionate way and in which 
the bachelor author with perfect understanding 
throws himself into the situation of the mother and 
with the tenderest manner and in the most sympathetic 
way deals with mother and babe. This gentle book, 
sweet in its simplicity and beauty, appeared in 1910. 
Simultaneously with the writing of this simple book 
for the mother and the babe, was prepared that scholarly 
work on the Confessional Principle, a discussion for the 
historian and theologian. 

When "In Mother's Arms" appeared, Dr. Shimer, 
assistant superintendent of the New York City schools, 



EDITOR AND SUNDAY SCHOOL LEADER 91 

wrote him : "There is a good homely streak of old- 
fashioned virtue in your pedagogy that makes one feel 
that the training of the young may safely be guided by 
you." An Episcopalian rector paid a similar tribute. 

As he traveled about from place to place to explain 
and demonstrate the System, he astonished Sunday 
School workers in all parts of the Church with the re- 
markable ease with which he could translate himself 
into the realm of childhood and meet it on its own level. 
Not a few still recall these demonstrations and speak 
of them in glowing terms. 

A doctor of divinity of the former General Synod, 
who later introduced the Graded System in his Sunday 
School, writes of what he heard and saw when Dr. 
Schmauk visited Chicago. He says: 

One was always impressed with the towering physique of Dr. 
Schmauk. His was a commanding presence. I shall never forget 
one fine illustration of his bigness of heart and intellect, on the 
occasion of my first meeting Dr. Schmauk. He had come to 
Chicago to lecture on Sunday School work. At one of the ses- 
sions of the convention, he demonstrated the work of the Kinder- 
garten Grade. He had told us how it should be done. A teacher 
in Wonderland should have four, five or six children, never more 
than six, gathered about him, all sitting on the little chairs, and 
then tell them the Bible Story in plain language, and with each 
lesson, a short verse of a simple hymn, with tune, should be 
taught. 

To see Dr. Schmauk seat himself upon a kindergarten chair, 
with six children under six years of age similarly seated, grouped 
about him, was really a privilege. He lost himself to his audi- 
ence, as he gave himself to the precious task before him. It 
was impressive. It was inspiring, to see and hear this big man, 
big in stature, yes, — now, more especially big in heart, — as he be- 
came utterly oblivious of all else, and devoted those splendid 
talents of his to telling a wonder story from the Word of God, 



92 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

to that little band of little folks, attentive, absorbed as they were 
in the story-teller and his message. 

Others have expressed themselves similarly and have 
spoken of the inspiration they received from these dem- 
onstrations of the System. 

This System had been recognized at Washington by 
the Commissioner of Education as the pioneer in this 
field and, for completeness and pedagogic excellence, 
without a peer. His intimate knowledge of the child 
mind and child nature — his wonderful adaptability which 
enabled him to meet its needs — his thorough acquaintance 
with the whole range of literature that had any bear- 
ing, however remote, on the subject of the religious in- 
struction of the young — and above all his unshaken faith 
in the Revelation of which the Scriptures are the un- 
erring record — made him a leader and a prince in this 
field of endeavor. 

As the books of the Graded Series were published, 
he saw how they might be improved, and in the earlier 
years made many revisions — even entirely rewriting in 
some instances. With the new situation which developed 
in the merging of the General Bodies, his part was so 
great that much that he had in mind for the further im- 
provement of the graded system had to be deferred. Yet 
he looked forward with keen interest and great ex- 
pectation to the realization of his earlier dreams when 
in the beginning of the work he approached others for 
the development of a Common Lutheran Series of 
Graded Sunday School Lessons. 

His last work was for the children of the Church, 
and in his final illness his mind was on that work which 
through all his busy career and in the midst of his varied 
and multiplying duties was always nearest to his heart. 



EDITOR AND SUNDAY SCHOOL LEADER 93 

Religious education in the Lutheran Church will always 
owe a great debt to the "Lebanon Master in Lutheran 
Bible Schools." 

The need of trained teachers led in 1914, with the 
aid of others, to the founding of a Teacher Training 
Quarterly, in which the principles of the various grade 
text books were fully presented and the general prin- 
ciples of teaching formulated and discussed. In these 
quarterlies there appeared a vast amount of material, 
ultimately designed for permanent books. Out of 
these pages came the basis of the book which appeared 
just a few days prior to his death, namely, "How to 
Teach in Sunday School." This book is a fitting climax 
to his great and unfinished work for the Sunday Schools 
of the Church, a work which will exert an influence to 
coming generations. 



CHAPTER X 
Citizen, Patriot and Public Speaker 

Thou, Lord, hast made our nation free. 

I'll die for her in serving Thee. — Schnumk. 

THERE have been few leaders in the Lutheran 
Church, who, without confusing the functions 
of the State and the Church, have so thor- 
oughly and heartily identified themselves with interests 
in civic life as did this Lebanon pastor. His father 
knew the full meaning of patriotism. When the Civil 
War began, the father found it necessary to show his 
colors (for feeling ran high in those days at Lancaster) 
and he preached loyalty to his people at the risk of his 
life. The mother had decorated the baby coach with 
the American flag. An advance guard of the rebel army 
had burned the bridge at Columbia, ten miles from Lan- 
caster, at the time of the battle of Gettysburg, and patri- 
otism in Salem congregation as at Zion's, Lancaster, 
rose to fever heat. Later when Richmond was taken, 
the father,- who had then become pastor at Lebanon, 
announced the tidings to the people of Lebanon by ring- 
ing the bell of Old Salem. 

The son was four years of age when the father moved 
to Lebanon. Salem Church had had its full quota of 
men who had been at the front. Military and other 
patriotic demonstrations were in high favor, and it was 
natural that the boy of four should take to playing sol- 
dier in his youth as a fish takes to water. Add to this 
his peculiar bent of heart and mind which allowed noth- 
ing of human interest to seem foreign to him, and it is 



CITIZEN, PATRIOT AND PUBLIC SPEAKER 95 

easily explainable that from his youth to the end of 
his days he should take an intense interest in civic affairs. 

This interest, as we have seen, blossomed forth when 
in the local press he played the part of the "Village 
Blacksmith." It revealed itself in his early popular lec- 
tures. He sympathized keenly with the honest and 
faithful toiler who found it difficult to live from hand 
to mouth. This crops out in his lecture on "The Blue 
Side of a Dollar a Day." Another lecture of his that 
touched the human side of life was on the theme "What 
Makes Men Happy"? In his addresses to the gradu- 
ating classes (and he was frequently pressed into ser- 
vice), he was sure to stir up local civic pride either by 
lauding some public-spirited man like Robert H. Cole- 
man, who did so much for Lebanon's greater expansion, 
or by recounting past history and pointing to the noble 
deeds of the fathers whose ideals and sacrifices made 
the city and the county what it was, or to the large part 
which its citizens had taken in the Revolutionary and 
Civil Wars. 

As a loyal citizen, he keeps his eye on the public 
schools to see that high standards are maintained. He 
keeps in touch with teachers' institutes; he attends the 
Board of Health meetings; goes to the license court to 
oppose the issuing of new licenses; interests himself in 
the sewerage question, in street paving, in opening new 
playgrounds; and by his superior knowledge in all these 
matters virtually compels men to seek his advice or bend 
to his views. When the new playground is finished, 
he is invited to make the address at its opening to the 
public; when the Chemical Fire Company's building is 
dedicated, Schmauk must, of course, be there to make 
the speech. Citizens still relate how, after many humor- 



96 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

ous comparisons and allusions, he switched into a more 
serious train of thought and told his audience how the 
fires of evil were being constantly kept burning in Leb- 
anon and how great the need of watchfulness and zeal 
to fight the flames. When the question of street-paving 
was being considered and the town council had practi- 
cally decided upon either asphalt or brick, the preacher 
of Salem appeared before these gentlemen and presented 
such a compelling array of facts and arguments as to 
win the majority over to wooden blocks. There was 
enough noise on the streets of Lebanon to make it un- 
necessary to add to it. Why not use material to dimin- 
ish it? 

His devotion to the highest welfare of the community 
was recognized as being so sincere and wholesouled that 
he could be permitted to say things which no other citi- 
zen dared to utter. When the great strike at the American 
Iron and Steel Company was on in 1901, the mob spirit 
ran high. It culminated in a battle and bloodshed on the 
nights of September 22nd and 23rd. One of Salem's 
members, Captain H. M. M. Richards, a descendant of 
Muhlenberg, being one of the company's trusted offi- 
cials, was shot and wounded. Leading citizens who had 
large interests at stake, quailed before this mob spirit 
and none dared to open his mouth. At this juncture 
appeared the man of the hour, and in the presence of 
an audience which more than filled Salem Church, Dr. 
Schmauk boldly preached a powerful sermon condemn- 
ing the reign of terror and calling upon the citizens of 
Lebanon to come to the defense of law and order. From 
that moment, the courage of the orderly citizens revived, 
public sentiment regained its speech and the tide speedily 
turned. 



CITIZEN, PATRIOT AND PUBLIC SPEAKER 97 

HIS LOVE OF COUNTRY 

Intimate knowledge of local and national history, par- 
ticularly that which pertained to the sturdy Lutheran 
pioneers in Colonial and Revolutionary days, inspired 
him with a love of country that was in many respects 
exceptional. When invited to make addresses on special 
occasions of historic interest, he literally poured out 
facts — and often on very short notice — as from a peren- 
nial fountain. When called upon to make addresses 
before the P. O. S. of A. veterans, he could be counted 
on to awaken in the breasts of others the same patriotic 
fervor that throbbed in his own bosom. He on more 
than one occasion reminded other audiences of how 
Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg (once a pastor of Salem 
Church) proclaimed at the risk of his life, from his 
pulpit in New York City, his contempt of the Tories who 
stood ready to sell the liberty of the Colonies to England 
and his devotion to the cause of American independence. 
He was proud to remind them of another Lutheran 
clergyman who in the church at Woodstock, Virginia, 
laid aside his clerical robes while in the pulpit, called 
for volunteers to follow him, and became one of the 
most trusted generals of Washington in the trying days 
of the Revolution. 

These patriotic outbursts brought him into the lime- 
light as a public speaker, and no celebration of either 
civic or historic import was considered complete without 
the presence of Dr. Schmauk either as the speaker or 
the presiding officer. Later, when President McKinley 
was shot, Dr. Schmauk preached a sermon to a crowded 
church that made a deep impression. It was a strong 
arraignment of the spirit of anarchy and warned against 
influences and tendencies subversive of everything 
H 



98 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

Americans should hold dear. Later upon the death of 
the martyr President, another sermon was preached of 
such eloquence and power as to call forth the highest 
praise. People in Lebanon recall it to this day. Both 
sermons appeared in full in the local papers. 

AS PUBLIC SPEAKER 

His connection with the Chautauqua and with the two 
historical societies, and his earlier lectures on popular 
subjects, proved to be a great training school to fit him 
for impromptu speech on public occasions. He rapidly 
developed a gift for the popular presentation of even ab- 
struse themes. He injected plenty of spice by his fre- 
quent sallies of wit and humor, and by drawing copi- 
ously on his imagination. His commanding form and 
resonant voice stood him in good stead at all times. But 
it was his ready command of fluent and forceful English, 
and his ability to get into whole-souled touch not only 
with the subjects he dealt with but also with his audi- 
ence that were the real source of his power as an in- 
spirational speaker. You were impressed that there 
stood before you not only a big mind, laden with rich 
stores of knowledge, but a great big soul — a soul as play- 
ful as that of a boy and yet as deeply serious as that of 
a sage and a prophet. 

It is well that, at this point, something should be said 
of the large use he made of humor in his addresses on 
public occasions. He regarded it as almost essential 
that the audience should be put into good humor so as 
to have an expectant, open and receptive state of mind. 
First attention; then action, was his motto. When at- 
tention was secured, he knew that he was in a position 
to carry his audience with him whithersoever he would. 
Hence he made free use of what would be startling and 



CITIZEN, PATRIOT AND PUBLIC SPEAKER 99 

often extremely fanciful. There was a deep-seated ear- 
nestness and purpose in it all, as he says, which many 
who often heard him have failed to take into account. 

In his sermons, he would not permit his humor to 
speak; but he was always sure to start out with some 
fresh and striking description to capture the attention 
of the hearer. And yet he never became sensational in 
the cheap and popular sense in which that word is under- 
stood. He deplored sensationalism as practiced by many 
preachers. In his sermon skeletons prepared under Dr. 
Mann at the Seminary, this peculiarity crept out in his 
introductions, and any one who has ever passed through 
the ordeal of submitting such skeletons to Dr. Mann 
might easily guess what must have happened. "Away 
with your flights of fancy. Right into the heart of your 
text !" was Dr. Mann's demand. Even he could not 
rightly appreciate the purpose his favorite student had 
in view. 

When he presided at meetings, that playful spirit, 
often delighting in striking fancies and hyperboles, 
made the speakers he introduced feel somewhat em- 
barrassed and uncomfortable; but both he and the audi- 
ence usually enjoyed it. These introductions were al- 
ways looked for, except when the occasion demanded 
seriousness. He took delight, at times, to characterize 
the speaker in flowery language and in humorous style. 
On one occasion at least this mode of introducing speak- 
ers reacted against him. It was when he was invited 
by President Haas of Muhlenberg College, whom he 
had more than once introduced as speaker, to address 
the students at college. Dr. Haas remembered how he 
himself had been presented to audiences where Dr. 
Schmauk presided, and determined he would copy his 



100 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

method. He accordingly indulged in flights of fancy 
and fulsome rhetoric and made a very successful imi- 
tation of the latter's manner of speech; throwing up 
his arms and raising his voice, then suddenly letting it 
fall. After Dr. Haas had spoken seriously about Dr. 
Schmauk's work and place in the Church, he grew elo- 
quent as follows : 

"There has come to us today a great man, in the sunshine 
among the hills, among the budding trees, amid the blossoms and 
the flowers of spring. He has descended upon us like a mighty 
nightingale, with outspread wings, and alighting upon this hill, is 
now ready to sing his sweet song. Though large in size, he can 
sing the charming lay of the little bird. He can pass swiftly and 
smoothly from humor to seriousness ; he can amuse you while 
he inspires you, passing from the sublime to the ridiculous, chang- 
ing from mood to mood as he circles about you and in flowing 
sentences rises to ethereal heights, then descends again with a 
sudden swoop to awaken within you a thrill of laughter as he 
alights and subsides into silence." 

It was a successful parody. No one can fail to recog- 
nize it as a true copy of Schmaukian speech. 

The students did not fully realize that it was not Dr. 
Haas's natural manner of speaking until Dr. Schmauk 
had launched out pretty fairly into his address. Then 
the close similarity of manner struck them so forcibly 
that the boys saw the joke and could not resist giving 
expression to their feelings. There arose a spontaneous 
roar of laughter and for once in his life Dr. Schmauk 
was profoundly embarrassed. He was so much taken 
by surprise that he did not fire back then, but had his 
fun with Dr. Haas later. 

No portraiture of Dr. Schmauk would be complete 
were the part he played at public functions in Lebanon 
to be left out of account. On one occasion, when the 










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Memorial Day To the Departing Soldiers 

Opening oe the Playground 
As a Public Speaker 



CITIZEN, PATRIOT AND PUBLIC SPEAKER 101 

Hon. W. U. Hensel of Lancaster was invited to deliver 
the historical address before the Lebanon County His- 
torical Society, he had failed to touch on many things 
of vital interest connected with the subject, and Dr. 
Schmauk undertook to supply the deficiency. He pre- 
sented such a bewildering array of facts and figures that 
when he was through, Dr. Hensel remarked to a friend : 
"If I could have found a hole in the floor big enough, 
I would have been glad to creep through it." It was 
risky to delve into historic lore in the presence of Dr. 
Schmauk. 

The people of Lebanon had become so thoroughly 
dependent on his leadership whenever celebrations of 
civic or historic significance took place that a mass meet- 
ing seemed incomplete or unsatisfactory without him. 
The Grand Army men on great national holiday occa- 
sions generally made sure that he would be present to 
participate. When the Centennial of Lincoln's birth 
was celebrated in 1908, it was a foregone conclusion that 
he should make the address. The Sons of America Hall 
was packed, and in a tribute of remarkable warmth and 
power, he exalted the fundamental principles upon which 
our Republic is founded, and drew wholesome lessons 
that were fully worthy of the occasion. 

SCHMAUK AND TAFT 

Dr. Schmauk's greatest achievement at introducing 
speakers, as the people of Lebanon unite in saying, was 
when ex-President Taft was invited on January 19, 
1918, to a mass meeting in behalf of the Liberty Loan. 
The Academy of Music was packed to the doors, and 
no man in Lebanon but Dr. Schmauk looked big enough 
to preside at the meeting. He was invited at a late hour 
to perform that duty. He accepted, and in an introduc- 



102 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

tory speech, sparkling with wit and humor, thrilled the 
great audience with his eloquence. 

After the President of the Lebanon Chamber of 
Commerce, who was also manager of the gas plant, had 
turned the meeting over to Dr. Schmauk as chairman, 
the latter rose, and turning to Mr. Taft said: "That 
is .our gas man. It is his duty to furnish light and 
power. I am not here to furnish the gas. That is his 
business. I am here simply to send out a few electric 
sparks." He then spoke of the resemblance between 
himself and Mr. Taft as to lateral physical outline rather 
than as to height, and before introducing the speaker 
called upon the audience to make the rafters ring by 
singing the national anthem. 

This done, he proceeded to acquaint Mr. Taft with 
some Lebanon history. He spoke of him as "The man 
of national and international fame," and of Lebanon 
as "the most patriotic city of its size in Pennsylvania." 
He then reminded the audience that five other presidents 
of the country, before they became candidates for the 
office, had visited Lebanon. Washington had been there ; 
so had Van Buren, Harrison, Buchanan, Grant and 
Hayes. "But this is the first time," he added, "that we 
have had a real ex-President to speak here." 

Then followed a description in his characteristic style 
of the fertile limestone valley, rich in mineral resources, 
where "barns like castles rise" and which the Germans 
and Huguenots had turned into a fruitful garden. He 
recalled how in Colonial days Conrad Weiser, then living 
only seventeen miles from Lebanon, saved Ohio, Indiana 
and Illinois during the French and Indian war; how 
Lebanon County had responded to the call of the Nation 
in the Revolutionary War, in the war of 1812 and in 



CITIZEN, PATRIOT AND PUBLIC SPEAKER 103 

the Civil War, furnishing more than its quota in all 
three. Then turning smilingly to Mr. Taft, he spoke 
of four types of American Statesmen with whom the 
honored guest was doubtless well acquainted. There was 
first the philanthropic type, William Jennings Bryan, 
whose fondness for peace treaties and prohibition were 
humorously alluded to. Then came the belligerent type, 
Theodore Roosevelt, who unlike Bryan, believed more 
in hot coals than in cold water, as the guest, no doubt, 
was fully aware. Next came the idealistic or pedagogic 
type, President Wilson, who assayed to be the teacher 
of the world and who was giving lessons on democracy. 
The fourth type was the constructive statesman, Mr. 
Taft himself, who brought order out of chaos in Cuba 
and the Philippines. While President Wilson opened 
wide the lid of government, Mr. Taft sat firmly on it. 
Then closing he said to the audience : "I introduce to 
you our first and fullest-orbed American citizen." 

When the ex-President rose to speak, he seemed to 
show signs that he had unexpectedly stepped into the 
shadow of a man of genius and power. Dr. Schmauk 
had said: "I do not know how it happened that I a 
preacher should have been called upon to introduce a 
lawyer," and almost the first sentence Mr. Taft uttered 
was, "I now know why you were called upon to intro- 
duce me." He laughingly commented on the physical 
likeness between the two, and remarked that while min- 
isters often dare much, he had never known any one 
who would have had the temerity to make the compari- 
sons ventured by Dr. Schmauk. He declared that he 
was in a tremble while the comparisons were being made. 
He afterwards said, in substance, to several men in pri- 
vate conversation : "I never had an introduction like 



104 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

that. I felt like a boy in his presence. It is unusual to 
find so great a man in so small a city. You can be proud 
of him. No other man could have trodden on such dan- 
gerous political ground as he has done without giving 
offense." 

Was it strange that many in that audience should 
have placed the lawyer and the preacher side by side and 
concluded that there was presidential timber in the Leba- 
non ministry? 

SCHMAUK DURING THE WAR 

He was much in demand during the trying days of 
the late war. Lebanon made heroic efforts to do its 
full share in going over the top not only in furnishing 
men for the army and navy, but also in subscribing for 
bonds. As the young men went forth from time to time 
at the call of the nation, he was invited to speak the 
parting words. When they returned, he stood ready in 
public meeting to welcome them back. He took a spe- 
cial interest in the boys of Salem who had gone to war 
and wrote many letters to them. 

Some of his patriotic sermons are still remembered 
by the soldiers of the Lebanon County companies that 
survived and returned. The one delivered in the Chapel 
before the veterans of Salem Church will never be for- 
gotten by the great throng that heard it. 

When interest in the Liberty Loan seemed to be lag- 
ging, he was called upon to create the needed enthusiasm, 
and he always did it with marked success. On one occa- 
sion he addressed a great crowd from the steps of the 
Post Office Building. He there kindled a fire that made 
the sparks of patriotism fly high, and the result was that 
the quota was oversubscribed. On another occasion, he 
addressed a large assembly at a base ball game, and 









CITIZEN, PATRIOT AND PUBLIC SPEAKER 105 

drawing his illustrations from the great national sport, 
he placed the Kaiser at the bat, the German submarines 
and armies on the bases, the Allies behind the batter 
and the United States as pitcher in front of him, with 
the result that the batter fanned, and the game was lost 
to the Kaiser. It took the base ball fans by storm, and 
they speak of that "great speech" to this day. 

On still another occasion, the Fourth of July was 
turned to good account for another Loan Drive. Market 
Square was crowded with a throng of expectant people, 
and Protestant and Catholic joined hands, as citizens, 
to celebrate. Father Christ and Pastor Schmauk were 
present as the speakers. Though far removed from each 
other as the poles in matters of faith, both were on terms 
of cordial friendship and enjoyed each other's respect 
and confidence. This was publicly declared by the priest 
when he rose, after what was termed a "great speech" 
by Dr. Schmauk, and remarked that he had "a warm 
spot in his heart" for his neighbor, and was "sure that 
Dr. Schmauk had a warm spot in his heart for him." 
Both believed that it was one thing to fellowship as 
citizens and quite another to fellowship as ecclesiastics.* 

After Dr. Schmauk had written an editorial in The 
Lutheran Church Review, soon after the war broke out, 
to counteract British propaganda in the American press, 
which was calculated to involve the United States in 
the great conflict, and had in thorough and convincing 
manner laid bare the causes that led up to the war (for 



* Father Christ gave evidence of the warm friendship he cherished for 
Dr. Schmauk a few days before the latter's death. The family were 
badly in need of a night nurse, for the one who served as day nurse was 
engaged at night for service in a Roman Catholic family. When the 
priest was apprised of that fact, he at once went to his sick parishioner and 
pleaded for the release of the nurse that the greater need in the Schmauk 
homestead might be supplied. He succeeded and won golden opinions for 
his noble act from the family and members of Old Salem which will long 
be cherished. 



106 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

it ranks among the clearest and best expositions that 
were written) many have wondered that he should have 
seemed to reverse himself when the United States de- 
clared war. While he condemned the militaristic phil- 
osophy of Germany, he did not in reality reverse him- 
self. He was far from believing that the guilt of the 
war. rested on Germany alone and that England, France 
and Russia could wash their hands in innocency. But 
he deplored the brutal war methods adopted by the 
German militarists, and when his country had spoken, 
for it alone among the nations could lift up unstained 
hands and declare a righteous war, he in true Lutheran 
spirit submitted to the decision of the Government and 
left the responsibility rest where it belonged. His intense 
patriotism would not permit him to whisper a word against 
his Government, though he deplored the fanaticism which 
led it at first to refuse enlistment to those whose names 
indicated German descent. He was wounded to the heart 
to think that, in spite of what Lutherans had done to 
save their country in the days of the Revolution and 
later in the Civil War, their descendants should now be 
treated as hyphenates. 

This righteous indignation found expression in a re- 
markable impromptu speech delivered in New York City 
at the organization of the United Lutheran Church in 
1918. When the Hon. Edmund Rommel (whose name 
indicates his German ancestry) representing the United 
States Bureau of Education had addressed that body on 
the question of Americanizing foreigners, Dr. Schmauk 
immediately rose to his feet and proceeded to correct 
what he believed to be an impression at Washington, that 
the Lutheran Church in this country is not a thoroughly 
American Church. His statement struck a responsive 



CITIZEN, PATRIOT AND PUBLIC SPEAKER 107 

chord and called forth frequent applause. It is worthy 
of a place in this biography. 

THE LUTHERAN CHURCH NOT A FOREIGN CHURCH 

"I am heartily in accord with all that has been said by this 
worthy representative of the Government, but I also feel, how- 
ever, that while we are most heartily interested in the foreign 
work, we are not a foreign-born Church. It is difficult to avoid 
the impression that some of our officials at Washington 'believe 
that to be a Lutheran is to be a foreigner. 

"I want to say here, in view of recent statements in print, that 
the Lutheran Church was in North America three years before 
the Pilgrim Fathers ever set their foot upon New England soil. 
I want to say here that there were Lutherans on these rocky 
shores of Manhattan two years after the Mayflower landed at 
Plymouth Rock. I want to say further that there was an organ- 
ized Lutheran Church here in Manhattan 130 years before the 
American Revolution ever took place. I want to say that had 
it not been for Benjamin Franklin and the German Lutherans in 
Pennsylvania the combination of the United Colonies into the 
United States would have been impossible. It was the Germans 
of Pennsylvania who stood behind Franklin as against the 
Quakers that enabled the Revolutionary War to succeed. 

"I want to say still further that in my dealings with Washing- 
ton my congregation has been characterized as a foreign-born 
congregation. My congregation, as I already said in this con- 
vention, had a pastor who became the first speaker of the first 
House of Representatives of the United States. With their 
townsmen, my congregation sent flour and money in 1774 to 
Boston after the famous tea party there and the closing of the 
port of Boston, in order to help to preserve American liberty. 
In the highest tower of my steeple there hangs a silver bell that 
was cast in 1770 in London, and from its height began to ring 
out into all the region round about me the inscription that is 
found on its face, and that inscription is, 'Proclaim liberty aloud 
to all the nations of the earth.' 

"The people of my congregation furnished one general, one 
colonel, and perhaps from one-third to one-fourth of every mem- 
ber in it to the Revolutionary War. And then, today, in writing 



108 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

to the pastor of that congregation, Washington hints 'A foreign- 
born congregation.' 

"On the 24th of this month of November it will be 215 years 
since, in 1703, the Lutheran Church in Philadelphia, with solemn 
ceremonial, set apart Justus Falckner, in probably what was the 
first regular ordination of a Protestant clergyman in America, 
for the holy ministry, and to become the pastor of the Dutch 
Lutherans in New York, where he officiated faithfully until his 
death in 1723. New York still preserves his Church Record, and 
we still possess a copy of his ordination certificate signed by 
the three Lutheran ministers that laid hands on his head." 

This impromptu speech was afterwards circulated in 
pamphlet form, and was most cordially welcomed by 
thousands of Lutherans, who had felt the sting of the 
cruelly unjust aspersions cast upon a Church that had 
sent a larger proportion of sons to the front than any 
other religious or secular body in the country. 



CHAPTER XI 
Death of the Father (1898-1903) 

My Father, my Father, the chariot of Israel, and the horse- 
men thereof. — 2 Kings 2:12. 

THE year 1898 proved to be memorable in the life 
of the younger Schmauk, and marks a distinct 
era. The one great event toward which father 
and son were looking with joyful anticipation was the 
celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the Church 
building in which three generations had worshipped. It 
had displaced a log church erected ten years before the 
Declaration of Independence was signed. It was dedi- 
cated on June 3, 1798. It still stands as a monument 
of solid and substantial architecture so characteristic of 
the buildings of those times. Its stone walls will doubt- 
less be standing a century hence when other later struc- 
tures will have fallen to decay. George Lochman was 
the pastor who planned for its erection and who carried 
the project through. 

The father had taken a deep interest in the forth- 
coming celebration and was seeking to make it the occa- 
sion for a new era of expansion. He had hoped to see 
the erection of a new church building which was to be 
used for English services only. In the early nineties al- 
ready much had been said in church council about building 
an extension to the old church structure, so as not to 
place too heavy a financial burden on the congregation; 
to this both pastors were opposed. 

The shadow of a great sorrow was soon to fall upon 
these fond anticipations. On March 5th the father, who 



110 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

had been in failing health for some time, became seri- 
ously sick — and in the midst of the busy Lenten season 
preparatory to confirmation and the celebration of Eas- 
ter. He gradually became worse and on April 1st a 
specialist from Philadelphia was summoned. Two days 
later was Palm Sunday and we read in the Diary that 
after the confirmation services, the son spent "the rest 
of the day with father, who was very sick." Early on 
the following day at 1 :45 A. M., in the presence of the 
family, the pillar upon whom the younger Schmauk had 
leaned many years was broken. A note in his Diary of 
April 4th reads: "Father died. My Father! My 
Father ! O Lord, have mercy upon us !" It was the 
outburst of a soul who now realized that he stood alone. 
Shortly before this Salem had lost one of its pillars 
in the death of George H. Reinoehl, "an authority on 
church and town history," as Schmauk says, and one 
of his intimate friends and counsellors. The well-known 
friend of his father, Rev. Dr. Kohler, was also called 
to his heavenly home seven days later. On July 4th 
followed the death of his associate, Rev. F. M. Seip, 
pastor of Trinity mission. This added greatly to the 
sense of loneliness he felt and the weeks that followed, 
with the Review, the Sunday School work, and numer- 
ous pastoral duties on his hands, are a record of ardu- 
ous tasks performed under the handicap of much de- 
pression of spirit and numerous illnesses, the most seri- 
ous of which was an attack of quinsy with a consequent 
nervous breakdown. In addition to all this, there loomed 
up before him the task of preparing for the centennial 
celebration of the dedication of Old Salem Church. A 
history must be written, — and in a few weeks' time, if 
the festivities were to take place on June 3rd. Much 



DEATH OF THE FATHER 111 

of this history — an octavo volume of 200 pages — was 
written in bed. As the time for the meeting of synod 
was at hand, it was decided to postpone the celebration 
to Sunday, June 17th, so as to permit of the completion 
of the history, which at the same time was to embody 
much of the story of Lebanon's past. The week pre- 
ceding, as may well be imagined, was an intensely busy 
one. We read in his Diary: "Working all week on 
Salem Church History, reading proof, etc., until one, two, 
three and four o'clock in the morning. Finished writing 
Thursday noon." 

The high esteem in which the father was held, and 
the strong affection the congregation cherished toward 
him made it easy to enlist a hitherto hesitating people 
in the project of building a new church instead of ruin- 
ing the old structure by enlarging it. What could now 
be more natural than to signalize the centennial services 
by erecting a chapel to the memory of a sainted pastor? 
Nine days after his death, the church council met and 
unanimously agreed to propose to the congregation at 
its meeting on May 1st the erection of a suitable memo- 
rial. A note in the Diary states briefly, "It was decided 
to build a chapel." 

Then followed increasingly busy days, interspersed 
with frequent attacks of illness. Though an associate 
pastor in the person of Rev. Ernest P. Pfatteicher was 
speedily secured, duties multiplied. The Review made 
heavy demands upon his time, and as its finances were 
not then in good shape, he tendered his resignation that 
same year, which was not accepted. He was in the 
midst of the arduous task of developing the Graded 
Lesson Series. He became more and more the inspira- 
tion and mainstay of the two historic societies he had 



112 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

helped to organize, and in addition took an interest as 
a life member in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 
He was not only literary editor of The Lutheran, but 
kept in constant touch with all its interests. In view 
of his ever-widening activities and the high rank he had 
taken as a scholar and a leader, he had been honored 
the year before (1897) by Muhlenberg College with the 
title of Doctor of Divinity. 

With the year 1899, a new era dawned upon the life 
of Dr. Sebmauk. The death of his beloved and wise 
counsellor now threw him completely upon his own re- 
sources, and he began in this period a many-sided career 
whose demands upon his energies were destined sooner 
or later to consume him. With the added responsibility 
of planning for a church building and looking after the 
details of its erection, the typewriter which had been in- 
stalled even before his activities at the Mt. Gretna Chau- 
tauqua, was kept busy, his sister and a number of boys 
and young men giving him much-needed assistance until 
in 1900 he engaged a regular stenographer, and in addi- 
tion a secretary and proof reader. 

As he had launched deeply into the work of prepar- 
ing a Graded Series of text books for the Sunday 
Schools, the Memorial Chapel took the form of a com- 
bination of a churchly house of worship and a 
Sunday School building. It is a Tudor Gothic struc- 
ture and cruciform in style. Ground was broken on Sep- 
tember 12th, the cornerstone laid September 30th in 
the same year, and on May 19, 1901, a massive building, 
the pride of the city, costing over $70,000, was dedicated 
to the service of the Triune God. An interesting inci- 
dent connected with the consecration of the Chapel was 
the planting of a sprig of ivy taken from the vine that 



DEATH OF THE FATHER 113 

climbed the walls of the Wartburg Castle in Germany, 
the gift of a life-long friend and schoolmate of his father, 
Mr. John B. Zimmele, who was then traveling through 
Germany. 

What is specially interesting in connection with the 
erection of this Chapel is the amount of detail work 
and study that was devoted to it by Dr. Schmauk. He 
had familiarized himself with the history of church 
architecture and mastered its fundamental concepts and 
principles. The materials that went into the building 
from foundation to roof were selected by him, and it is 
doubtful whether any church building of its size and 
cost can boast of better, high-grade material. An in- 
stance of his expert knowledge and minute attention to 
details is related by one of the church members who ac- 
companied him to Philadelphia to select stained glass 
for windows to be placed near the eaves of the roof. 
He revealed such an intimate knowledge of the manu- 
facture of glass that the head man in the department 
turned to the church member and said : "Who is this 
man? He knows more of the manufacture of glass 
than I do." This same penchant for details was mani- 
fested later when the pipe organ, then costing over 
$6,000, was to be purchased. Long before, he had made 
a study of the organ and there is now on hand a manu- 
script almost completed for a book of considerable size 
on "The Church Organ and Its History." 

His expert knowledge of the organ was soon noised 
abroad and his advice was sought by pastors contem- 
plating the purchase of similar instruments. Two let- 
ters seeking such advice, and replies to them by Dr. 
Schmauk, are worthy of mention as showing how thor- 
oughly he had entered into the study of the subject. 
I 



114 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

An inquiry from the Rev. Robert L. Patterson, of Somer- 
set, Pa., receives an answer of more than three large 
typewritten sheets discussing the merits and defects of 
organs manufactured by six leading firms. Even Roman 
Catholic priests sought his advice. A priest from Car- 
lisle, Pa., is "anxious to have reliable data to place at 
the^disposal of the Bishop" for the selection of an organ 
to be built in the new cathedral in Harrisburg, Pa., and 
writes for information in a letter dated March 17, 1906. 
The reply reveals his mastery of the subject and sets 
forth the merits and demerits of the Austin organ, which, 
with important modifications, was the instrument in- 
stalled in the Chapel and was designed by Robert Hope- 
Jones. He sums up its tonal quality thus: 

"If I had full means at command and were about to build a 
new organ, I would try to get on their standard of tone addi- 
tions in the direction of diffused rather than defined power, 
golden mellowness and soft richness in larger abundance in small 
stops, and greater richness in a few large stops." He then de- 
scribes in detail the "Materials and Action" he would insist upon 
having. He says that the organ at Salem Church is "notable for 
a full, living, clear-cut utterance of great power and of perfect 
smoothness or finish. The tone, to my ear, considered as to 
quality, combines the unobtrusive perfection of artistic form with 
a full flowing energy. The majesty of the volumes is not rude 
and barbaric; nor, on the other hand, is their sweetness in any 
wise romantic. I have never found the soft and Italian golden 
sunshine in these tones. The power is self-contained and definite 
rather than vaguely suggestive and diffused." 

More of a similar character follows. 

DELEGATE TO THE GENERAL SYNOD 

During this period, Dr. Schmauk became deeply in- 
terested in the larger questions and issues that concerned 
the General Council, and as delegate to the General 



DEATH OF THE FATHER 115 

Synod in 1901 presented overtures of the General Coun- 
cil to that body looking toward a policy of co-operation 
between the two bodies along practical lines. A report 
of part of his address was thus summarized in one of 
the local papers: 

"Dr. Schmauk came before the General Synod not for the 
marriage of the two bodies, but only asking that the Synod 
always be a sister to the General Council. He said he merely 
came to suggest co-operation where such would be mutually 
advantageous, and was prepared to consult; with any committee 
the Synod might be pleased to appoint. If his suggestion should 
not meet with favor, he asked that his presence should be re- 
garded merely as a fraternal knock at the door. If the knock 
were not heard, he would be content, like the missionaries in 
India, to leave his card and go away." 

It is needless to add that a committee was appointed, 
with Dr. Dunbar at its head, and upon its recommenda- 
tion the following action was taken : 

"Resolved, that we approve of a policy of cooperation between 
the two general bodies on lines that may be found to be prac- 
ticable, after due investigation of the various points involved, 
and without in any way committing either body to any entangling 
alliances, sacrifice of principle, or interference with synodical 
identity. 

"Resolved, that a commission be appointed consisting of five 
to meet with and confer with a similar committee, that may be 
appointed by the General Council, to consider and inquire into 
such matters as may come within the scope of the first resolution 
and report at the next meeting." 

Thus the door to real co-operation was first opened. 
Favorable action resulted, and at the meeting of the Coun- 
cil in the same year at Lima, Ohio, he became the author 
of a resolution which resulted in the appointment of a 
commission of five to meet with a similar commission 
of the General Synod for the investigation and consid- 



116 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

eration of a policy of co-operation, which later proved 
to be the beginning of new relationships leading up fin- 
ally to the organization of the United Lutheran Church. 
He already became recognized as a leading force on 
the floor of the General Council, entering into the dis- 
cussions of great questions at issue with intelligence 
and convincing power. 

At this Lima meeting he could announce to the Gen- 
eral Council the completion of the Graded Series of text 
books, though few realized the tremendous amount of 
labor and energy expended, not only in preparing and 
publishing the series, but in giving numerous expositions 
of the system in various centers. So interesting and 
informing were his presentations of the subject that he 
could hold the rapt attention of his audiences for more 
than an hour. "A Flying Trip Through Twentieth 
Century Sunday Schools with a Few Moments' Stop at 
Grade Stations," was the novel and striking way in which 
he announced the theme to be discussed during his itin- 
erary. 



CHAPTER XII 

President of the General Council 
(1903 to 1905) 

In the Church of our Lord and Christ, we do not want a steam- 
roller unity. What we want is a growth into unity. What we 
zuant is, not commercial but spiritual, efficiency — not a commercial 
headship such as Rome has, but spiritual liberty under the head- 
ship of Christ. The finest trees grow with plenty of airspace 
about them. — Schmauk. 

WHEN at the meeting of the General Council in 
Norristown, Pa., in 1903, this pastor, 
preacher, educator, historian, lecturer, editor, 
author, patriot and public speaker was elected president, 
it was inevitable that he would not be satisfied to serve 
merely as presiding officer, attending during the two 
years of his incumbency only to such matters of gen- 
eral interest as might be thrust upon him in the interim. 
He at once took his responsibility most seriously, ac- 
quainted himself with the inner workings of the boards, 
committees and synods so far as he was able, and planted 
himself firmly on the doctrines and principles of the 
General Council as laid down by the fathers, determined 
to keep true to their aims and ideals. This became ap- 
parent when, two years later, at the Council meet- 
ing in Milwaukee, he presented his first report. It 
covered twenty pages of that year's minutes and was 
the most exhaustive presentation that had yet been made 
before the General Council. He was setting a new pre- 
cedent and enlarging greatly the scope of the duties and 
services pertaining to the office. 



118 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

What is significant in this first report is that it fore- 
casts his later undying loyalty to the General Council 
and what it stood for. He is conscious that he has set 
before himself a larger task than his predecessors seemed 
willing to assume; for after defining what he conceives 
to be the high calling and mission of the General Council, 
he .says : 

"Your President, believing that it is far more possible in this 
generation than it was at the beginning, to rely on a united and 
loyal Lutheran consciousness in the General Council ; and believing 
also that it will become increasingly more necessary as the years 
pass to keep the body in living touch with its fundamental prin- 
ciples; and believing that this is the main work of the President 
apart from guiding business deliberations; has taken this position 
in the present report. If the position is a mistaken one, he trusts 
and knows that the General Council will declare its judgment." 

In this report there were twenty distinct items, sev- 
eral of considerable importance, to which the attention 
of the Council was directed. Among them were diffi- 
culties that had arisen in the Foreign Mission field, the 
question of marriage and divorce, modern evangelism 
and the Council's attitude toward it, and the subject of 
American Civic Righteousness, concerning which he 
quotes what President Roosevelt said in praise of the 
American Lutheran Church as the conservator of a 
sturdy and virtuous type of Americanism. 

A PROCLAMATION 

This report was in reality Dr. Schmauk's proclama- 
tion of what he intended to stand for. It was his inter- 
pretation of the General Council's mission as a leaven 
of genuine Lutheranism in its truest American essence 
and character. He wrote as one deeply conscious of 
"the rapid passing away" of the Council's founders, 



PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 119 

taking account of "the rapid change in personality which 
is coming over our body," by calling to mind the deaths 
of three ex-presidents during the biennium (Moldenke, 
Swenson, Seiss). Of the original delegation that went 
to Fort Wayne to organize the General Council in 1867, 
only three or four remained in the land of the living. 
"To await the coming of the half century before tak- 
ing any festal retrospect into the past, might deprive 
us of those venerable founders Whom God has spared 
unto this day," and it followed naturally that the com- 
mittee on President's Report should recommend the cele- 
bration of the fortieth anniversary in 1907. The serious 
illness of Drs. Weidner and Geissinger and the ab- 
sence of Drs. Krotel and Haas because of illness, as 
well as the death of Dr. Seip of Muhlenberg College, 
weighed heavily on his mind. Then after stating that, 
while men die, the General Council itself does not die, 
he quotes what former presidents — Schaeffer, Krotel, 
Krauth and Spaeth — have interpreted the mission of the 
Council to be. With this as his introduction, he sets 
forth what he himself believes is its true character and 
mission. As it explains his attitude toward the Genera) 
Council, and the great questions and issues with which 
it was confronted during the seventeen years of his ad- 
ministration as president, his declaration must find a 
place in this biography. It is the gauge by which his 
whole later life and activity must be measured. 

"THE ONE CONSERVATIVE LUTHERAN BODY" 

"The future work of the General Council will devolve more 
and more upon the second generation, and by them and by all 
Lutherans in this land, two facts should not be forgotten : 

"The first is this, that the General Council is the one conser- 
vative Lutheran body in this country, accepting unreservedly both 
the Confessions and the history of the Church. As over against 



120 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

any radicalism, which would cut away the Confessional fullness 
of our Lutheran Church, or which would make a syncretistic 
combination between parts of our heritage and other doctrinal 
elements in America which are not our own, the General Council 
stands firmly for the complete and concordant sum of Lutheran 
truth. With equal firmness does it accept and build upon the 
historical past, both in Europe and in this country, and avoid that 
other, radicalism which, instead of purging the hay, straw and 
stubble from the old foundations, would begin, without just 
recognition of the good that is in the past, to erect, by means 
of an exclusive ecclesiastical organization, a new Lutheranism, 
without regard to any previous or contemporary work of Provi- 
dence in the land. 

"The General Council is not chiefly constrained to preserve 
its own organization, or to subserve the development or preser- 
vation of any school of theology, of any body of emigrants, or 
of any strain of blood. Its professed purpose from the begin- 
ning has been to build upon the foundation of pure doctrine a 
true and Catholiic Lutheran Church, with no desire for the rule 
of any school of theology, or any ecclesiastical party. 

"This gives the General Council its ecumenical character and 
outlook, and its safe and central hold upon the future. It accepts 
the one foundation solely and unreservedly, and upon this it 
devotes itself to the upbuilding of our Church in this land. It 
recognizes all the good in the historical development of the past; 
and recognizes the evil also; but it refuses to destroy the good 
in order that it may thereby be enabled to burn out the evil. 

"The attitude of Luther toward the Catholic Church in the 
Sixteenth Century is the attitude of the General Council toward 
all forms of Lutheranism today. It would conserve the past 
and upbuild the future on the basis of a sound faith. Its depth 
is the depth of salvation which is in Jesus Christ. Its length is 
the length of history, and its breadth is the breadth of our own 
land and our own time." 

Then follow reasons why the General Council "is 
here to stay." While he realizes that its organization is 
necessarily lacking in compactness and solidarity because 
of the several racial elements composing the body, and 



PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 121 

because of "apparently contradictory interests" repre- 
sented in it, he believes the General Council to be the one 
Lutheran body that is best adapted to weld together the 
various Lutheran synods and prevent them from drifting 
into a type of particularistic and sectarian life which is 
foreign to the true genius of Lutheranism. He says: 

"The weakness of independent and divided Lutheran congre- 
gations and Synods in this country is a warning in the history 
of the past. The ineffectiveness of Intersynodical Conferences, 
conducted outside of any direction or responsibility — which in- 
deed were proposed as a substitute for the organization of the 
General Council in 1866, and which the General Council then 
opposed as such — has been demonstrated from the earliest his- 
tory of these disputations in the Lutheran Church down to the 
very latest. 

"The general body, on the basis of the pure Confessions, such 
as we have in the General Council itself, meets the case of the 
Lutheran Church in this land. Few of us can realize the great 
loss that would come to ourselves, to the whole Lutheran Church 
and to the Protestant Church throughout the world, if this fabric 
of our fathers were to perish." 

THE GENERAL COUNCIL'S ATTITUDE TOWARD MODERN 
EVANGELISM 

A letter had been addressed to him requesting a 
statement from him as to the General Council's position 
on the question of evangelism, and the answer is em- 
bodied in the report. It forecasts the attitude he later 
took toward revivalistic movements and emotional evan- 
gelism in general, and his strenuous efforts to offset this 
tendency in American Protestantism by stressing the 
need of an educational evangelism. It presents the Luth- 
eran view on this question which reads as follows : 

"We Lutherans believe that every pastor is an Evangelist, and 
that in every sermon the Law and the Gospel is to be proclaimed 
for the awakening and salvation of lost sinners. It is within 



122 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

the scope of our Church to make provision for daily and special 
services for the effective preaching of the Gospel to the lost. 
There is no Church in all Christendom that so faithfully and 
continuously and regularly warns sinners and sets forth the 
grace of God and the salvation that is in Christ Jesus. 

"But it is true Gospel, as we teach it, that is to be preached 
in our parishes. It is those who hold 'the office of teaching the 
Gospel and administering the Sacraments' (Augsburg Confession 
V) on whom this work is to fall. The duty of evangelizing the 
world at home and abroad is not a special, intermittent, and spas- 
modic function of the Church, arising spontaneously and irregu- 
larly in periods of public excitement, with agencies of ministra- 
tion created outside of the regular bounds of the Church, and 
subsiding again when the wave of emotional excitement has passed 
over the country and spent itself. On the other hand, it is a 
constant part of the regular work of the Church to be attended 
to, like all other work of the Church, in an orderly way, and by 
those duly called to the 'office.' 

"To Lutherans, then, Evangelism, or saving the sinner and 
the world by the power of the Gospel, is not a series of mixed 
meetings conducted under the auspices of a union of temporarily 
united but permanently divergent sects, by one who proclaims the 
Word of God with no regular call, and who follows up the 
proclamation with the use of agencies and systems of reach- 
ing the individual which our Church cannot approve; but Evan- 
gelism is the regular public proclamation 'by the foolishness 
of preaching,' of the saving Word of God, the Law and the 
Gospel, at daily and festival services, and on all suitable occa- 
sions, by the Lutheran pastor or Missionary properly called to 
this work; and the following up of the public proclamation with 
faithful and continuous pastoral effort. 

"The Lutheran Church does not find it necessary to inaugurate 
special and irregular evangelistic meetings in a congregation or 
parish in order to stimulate the flagging interest of church mem- 
bers lukewarm and about to fall away. While such members 
abound with us, yet the faithful use of our regular means, and 
honest labor under our normal conception of justification, regen- 
eration, conversion and sanctification, which is so much more 
true, and so far superior, in its bearings on the inner life, to the 



PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 123 

loose, current views of Christianity, are our most effective 
means of bringing the falling member back into a state of grace. 

"I am referring to the Lutheran doctrine that the Christian 
life is a daily repentance and daily faith. Whereas 'Modern' 
Evangelism, like old-time revivalism, is inclined to make the 
turning point from the world to be an irregular and so to say 
chance moment, occurring once or at rare intervals in the life 
of the individual ; the Lutheran doctrine of the daily turning from 
sin, and the daily turning to Christ, is immeasurably superior as 
a true power in the application of the saving Gospel both to 
the unawakened sinner without the Church and also to the gradu- 
ally decaying soul within. 

"If the Lutheran Church is not doing her duty in the matter 
of Evangelism, it is because she is not properly using the most 
potent means, regularly inherent in her nature and her constitu- 
tional mode of operation, ever given to any Church for this 
purpose. 

"With the increase of extra-ecclesiastical agencies and organi- 
zations, not regularly connected with the Christian Church ; and 
with no lawful power of the keys committed to them; with no 
authority of arrangement for the exercise of discipline over 
speakers, or people; with no method of bringing home to the 
converts, not only the comfort but also the responsibilities of 
the Christian life; with no regular provision for the confession 
of sins and for the administration of the Sacraments ; with no 
organic method for apportioning and bringing the awakened to 
the regular ministrations of the Word and Sacraments ; 'modern' 
Evangelistic work as an extra-ecclesiastical institution will, in 
the long run, prove to be of questionable value to Christianity for 
'adding to the Church daily such as should be saved' (Acts 2:47)/' 

That the new President had not overstepped the lim- 
its in breaking precedents and presenting so complete 
and comprehensive a report was indicated by his re- 
election as president. The Committee on President's 
Report gave expression to the same high opinion of the 
President as a trusted and capable officer in the follow- 
ing paragraph of its report: 



124 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

"In answer to the question of the President concerning the 
functions of his office, especially in the matter of his official re- 
port, your committee recommends as answer, that the present re- 
port, in the wideness of its scope and the fullness of its detail, 
in referring to the matters of vital interest to the doctrine and 
life of the Church and to civic righteousness, gives to this body 
the demonstration of a satisfactory interpretation of the con- 
stitutional functions of his office in bringing to the Council's 
notice topics for most timely and profitable consideration." 

WHAT WAS BEHIND THE PROCLAMATION 

There was a reason why the new President's first 
report partook of the character of a confession of his 
faith in the paragraphs quoted. His correspondence 
after the meeting of the General Conference of Luth- 
erans in Pittsburgh, April 5-7, 1904, as well as an edi- 
torial in the July Review, show that he was apprehensive 
of a tendency among certain scholars within the Gen- 
eral Council to yield somewhat to the rationalistic atti- 
tude of the negative critics toward the Scriptures. When 
at that meeting the question of inspiration was discussed, 
certain statements were made which leaned in the direc- 
tion of the well-known dictum, that the Scriptures con- 
tain the Word of God but may not be spoken of as being 
the Word of God. A letter to Dr. Krotel reveals a deep 
feeling of depression. In it he speaks of being "over- 
powered by a sense of loneliness and helplessness" as 
he believed himself to be standing almost alone in coun- 
teracting with scholarly methods and arguments the 
leaven of the Higher Criticism that seemed to be work- 
ing its way into the General Council, as he and others 
feared. 

He at the same time realized that in the Lutheran 
Church in this country, there was a disposition on the 
part of most of its theologians and pastors to rest satis- 



PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 125 

fied with the position of the teachers and dogmaticians 
of past generations and a disinclination to keep abreast 
of the newer scholarship of the day so as to be able to 
counteract its tendencies and dangers. He felt that few 
or none were capable of supporting him in standing for 
the defense of the formal principle of the Reformation 
without incurring the charge of being ignorant of the 
problems involved in the critical study of the Bible. He 
deplored the indifference of many bright minds in the 
Lutheran Church who rested satisfied with being simply 
orthodox and who did not realize the dangers of un- 
preparedness to meet the radicalism of the negative 
critics. 

As much criticism of certain loose statements during 
the discussion on inspiration had come to his ears (for 
he himself was not present at the time), he felt that 
the General Council must embrace the earliest opportu- 
nity to place itself on record as still standing by the 
declaration of its founders, that the Scriptures are "in- 
errant in letter, fact and doctrine," as the constitution 
states. What could be more conducive to a reassertion 
of the Council's faith as related to this and other im- 
portant questions than the celebration of its Fortieth 
Anniversary? He was thus looking forward two years 
for a clear and unequivocal reaffirmation of that faith. 

Soon after the Pittsburgh Conference, he prepared a 
series of nine articles for The Lutheran on "Inspiration 
at Pittsburgh," but as he and the Editor agreed, that 
they might create the impression that the men who had 
made the unguarded statements at Pittsburgh were al- 
ready dwelling in the tents of the negative critics, they 
were not published. It was deemed best to discuss the 
matter in the July Reviezv, in which appeared an article 



126 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

by Dr. Leander Keyser and an editorial by Dr. Schmauk. 
The crucial point was the declaration which had been 
made, that "Christ is primary, and the doctrine of in- 
spiration secondary." In a letter to Dr. Keyser he com- 
mends him for his answer to that statement, which readsj 
"Do men who speak and write in that way realize that 
the Christ they exalt is only an ideal Christ, and not 
the historical Christ ?" The point made was simply, 
where but in the Scriptures do we know of Christ? If 
the Scriptures, in spite of many textual errors that have 
been and are being corrected, but which do not affect 
its substance, are not infallible, even to its very words, — 
if we must be uncertain there — what guarantee have we 
that we know a real, historic Christ? To quote Luther 
and place him among the subjective negative critics of 
modern times, when both he and the later dogmaticians 
merely rested on the Scriptures and were not worried 
by any mechanical or any equivocal definition of inspira- 
tion, was to read sixteenth century thought through 
twentieth century glasses. 

But for that Pittsburgh Conference, the report of the 
President at the Milwaukee Council would have read 
differently. Yea more, the Buffalo Council that followed 
would not have struck the high note of confessionalism 
it did, had not the soul of its President been stirred to 
the depth for fear of a drift away from the faith into 
the shoals and quicksands of rationalism. 



CHAPTER XIII 

The Confessional High-Water Mark (1907) 

"// is not to us to reset the course of history by our feeble fiat. 
Union in spirit and in truth is not really promoted by clever 
mechanical contrivance, or by balanced doctrinal compromise. 
Unionists are not taking the truly ruinous ram by the horns, in 
proposing to eliminate doctrinal distinctiveness. Theology is not 
the horrid scapegoat that men make her out to be. The trouble is 
not in the bones of doctrine, but in the blood of life. You need 
to breed a better stock in the fold, sir. A few centuries of gentle 
breeding will bring more union than an eternity of blozving. It is 
the moral blemishes that keep the bones of doctrine sore. It is the 
quantity of blemish, not the quantity of bone, that needs to be 
reduced. — Schmauk. 

IF the prelude of Dr. Schmauk's administration as 
President was played at Milwaukee, the grand 
symphony was made to peal forth at the Fortieth 
Anniversary of the General Council in 1907 at Buffalo. 
An elaborate program, "with almost as many speakers 
as there were years in the General Council's History," 
as Dr. Horn remarked, had to be prepared; and in ad- 
dition to Dr. C. T. Benze's elaborate theses on the Scrip- 
tures, the Council was asked by its president to put 
itself on record on the question of co-operation and fel- 
lowship with non-Lutherans ; on the relations between 
the General Council and the General Synod, for which 
Dr. Jacobs was asked to prepare theses ; on the question 
of reaffirming in no uncertain tones the doctrinal basis 
on which the Council was founded. This convention 



128 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

was designed to reach the high- water mark of confes- 
sionalism in the Council's history after the eventful 
meeting at Fort Wayne in 1867. To celebrate such an 
anniversary without reproducing in clear and distinct 
tones the confessional music of the fathers not only at 
Fort Wayne, but as far back as 1530 at Augsburg and 
later in 1580, at Bergen, would have been like rendering 
Bach's Passion with the Cross left out. And so it hap- 
pened that under the leadership o/f its President, the 
Buffalo Council was asked to walk about its Zion, to 
consider well her bulwarks and to re-explore her foun- 
dations. "Christ All and In All" was the theme of his 
sermon. He found Christ in the Scriptures, Christ in 
the Confessions, Christ in the General Council, and 
Christ in the heart of the Believer. 

"CHRIST IN THE GENERAL COUNCIL" 

"Christ is our all in the General Council. We recog- 
nize no visible head but Christ, and demand the invisi- 
bility of the vital unity of the Church until Christ Him- 
self shall again appear to be our visible Lord. His own 
living Headship and Person is the supreme controlling 
unity of our rich divinity. As a General Council we 
are but a voluntary visible brotherhood in the unity of 
the one faith in Him; who places general organization 
at the disposal of the congregations, and the Word. We 
are not a Divine Institution, except as Providence has 
brought us into being. That there are multitudes of 
sound Lutherans who have built upon the first of the 
Lutheran Confessions only, and who have not come to 
a consciousness of the necessity of placing the complete 
Lutheran Confession at their base; and that there have 
been many such Lutherans from the start, from the 
Sixteenth Century down, the General Council does not 



THE CONFESSIONAL HIGH-WATER MARK 129 

deny. But it believes, in the spirit of a conservative 
development as guided by the Holy Spirit, that where, 
in all ages of the Christian Church, God has raised up 
good men to enrich, enlarge and fulfill confessional truth 
and churchly praxis, there it behooves us their heirs and 
successors, to accept the fullness of the Spirit's develop- 
ment, and not merely the first rudiments, however de- 
terminative these rudiments may be, and that it is our 
duty to reject only that in a full confessional heritage 
which will not stand the test of the Holy Scriptures, the 
only rule of faith and life. And again : the General 
Council does not deny, but positively believes, that there 
are good Christians scattered throughout the whole 
world, from the rising to the setting of the sun, and in 
all churches and denominations, who are God's children, 
and who are truly believing and righteous men. And 
its guarded purity of teaching, and strictness of disci- 
plinary organization is not intended to disinherit these 
saints who are in the true Church of Christ, but is in- 
tended as a witness against heresies and schisms ; against 
errors of teaching and praxis in the preaching of God's 
pure Word and the pure administration of Christ's own 
Sacraments in the earthly organizations in which these 
saints (for conscientious, hereditary or worse reasons) 
move and live; in order that the Word of Christ may 
be fulfilled, that the Church of Christ as the Body of 
Christ, and the bride of Christ, and the pillar of Christ's 
truth, that the Gospel of Christ, which is able to bring 
confession and offer absolution to the lost soul, be con- 
served and used. This it is which renders Christ to be 
all and in all in the General Council." 

The keynote of the Convention, giving expression to 
his faith in the General Council and its mission was 
J 



130 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

struck in that part of his report where he speaks of the 
Council as standing for a 

CATHOLIC LUTHERANISM 
With the original "Call" as his text he proceeds to in- 
terpret it for the Council of today. 

"We are not moving in this matter on doubtful grounds," 
says the Call "With our communion of millions scattered over 
a vast territory, with the ceaseless tide of immigration, with 
the diversity of surrounding usages and religious life, with our 
need of ministers, our imperfect provision for the urgent wants 
of the Church, there is danger that the genuinely Lutheran ele- 
ments may become alienated, that the narrow and local may over- 
come the broad and general, that the unity of the Spirit in the 
bond of peace may be lost, and that our Church, which alone 
in the history of Protestantism has maintained a genuine catho- 
licity and unity, should drift into the sectarianism and separatism 
which characterize and curse our land." 

Dr. Schmauk then gives his interpretation of the "Call" 
in the following words : 

"Now after a whole generation has sped away, can we not 
see the counterpart in fact, in this body which is meeting here, 
and of which we are representatives today, and which is scat- 
tered over the whole of North America, to that picture drawn 
by the pen of those God-given men who felt impelled by reasons 
of the gravest kind to assume the serious responsibility of first 
organizing this body? 

"We cannot be sufficiently thankful for what God put in their 
minds to do, and for the development that followed upon their 
effort. Their success has been beyond what a sober view of the 
situation would have deemed probable. The nature of the case 
really hinted at failure in this bold attempt. The marvel is, that 
among Germans, Scandinavians and English, such a body, beau- 
tifully wrought together, magnificent in strength and propor- 
tions, should have been possible at all. The marvel is that the 
General Council did not go to pieces before the first ten years 
had fled — and that it did not, is not of our effort; it is the Lord's 
doing. 



THE CONFESSIONAL HIGH-WATER MARK 131 

"Whether the sound doctrine will sufficiently prevail, and his- 
torical, racial, and other individual considerations will sufficiently 
decline, to enable the true Lutheran Church of our land, standing 
completely on its great confessional foundations, ever to embrace 
all Lutherans in America is a question which no human being 
can answer. God has not led Christianity itself in any such uni- 
versal path as yet. There has always been the Church of the 
East and the Church of the West. Since the days of the Refor- 
mation, Protestantism itself, especially, has been divided. It has 
not been able to solve the question of universality, and the char- 
acter of the means with which it has been taking hold of that 
problem recently will ultimately retard rather than further the 
solution. But so far as Lutheranism itself is concerned, con- 
trary to the prevailing American view of it, as divided into many 
sects, all our general organizations have done wonders within 
the last generation to bring order out of chaos, strength out of 
weakness, and the effective application of power out of a primal 
and individualistic confusion. 

"We cannot be sufficiently thankful to the founders of the 
General Council for the nature of the tabernacle which they be- 
queathed to us and in which they provided for liberty and union, 
now and forever, one and inseparable. Ours is a Lutheranism 
too broad to be embraced in any language. Ours is a Lutheran- 
ism which is not national, but continental and international. 

"The Lutheran Church is as broad as the world. It is not a 
national Church, but is like the roll of the British drum-beat. 
History has shown that it furnishes the best and most patriotic 
citizens and the bravest defenders of the flag for any nation ; but, 
as a Church, we are fostering not nationalism, but an international 
spirit. Our Saviour said, 'Go ye out into all the zvorld.' He 
said, 'Ye shall be witnesses both in Jerusalem and unto the utter- 
most parts of the earth.' That is the spirit of the Council. 

"This spirit is imbedded in its very title, 'The Church in North 
America.' We are a broader stream than the stream of any race, 
and are ready to greet hand in hand the children of the pure 
faith from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof. Let 
us then make our many nationalities and our numerous sectional 
feelings and activities which, by nature, are a source of weak- 
ness, to be, by grace, an instrumentality of power. If our inter- 



132 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

national character be a cause of slowness and difficulties, let it 
also become unto us a great source of strength, our joy and 
our pride." 

THE GENERAL COUNCIL AND THE SCRIPTURES 

Since doubts had been raised as to the soundness of 
the General Council's position with respect to the "nega- 
tive criticism" in its attitude toward the Holy Scriptures, 
the Buffalo Convention must declare itself in no equivocal 
terms, and the following declaration appears in President 
Schmauk's report: 

"Since it has been asserted that the General Council is weakening 
in the doctrine of the Scriptures, under the influence of the Higher 
Criticism; and since these principles are doing so much in the 
American churches to disintegrate faith in the letter and the 
spirit of the Scriptures, I recommend that we reaffirm our posi- 
tion, and declare that the General Council holds now as ever to 
the old teaching of the fathers, that the Holy Scriptures are 
inerrant in letter, fact and doctrine; as our Constitution and Prin- 
ciples of Faith maintain: The absolute directory of the will 
of Christ is the Word of God, the Canonical Scriptures, by which 
Scriptures the Church is to be guided in every decision. She may 
set forth no article of faith which is not taught by the very letter 
of God's Word, or derived by just and necessary inference from 
it, and her liberty concerns those things only which are left free 
by the letter and spirit of God's Word.' 

"We affirm that we have not given way by a hair's breadth to the 
rationalism, or the rationalizing spirit, of the Higher Criticism; 
nor will we allow errant human reason to be the judge of what 
is and what is not God's Word in the Scriptures. Not only 
the revelation and its record, but the history and its record, the 
whole Scripture, in spirit and letter, is inspired. 

"To us the Scriptures are God's written Word, as preach- 
ing is the spoken Word; and this written Word, though 
it was, and must and should be thoroughly tested by our 
poor human reason, is grasped and accepted by our faith as 
it is, and as above us, even where not comprehended by 
reason; or where apparently imperiled by the momentary 



THE CONFESSIONAL HIGH-WATER MARK 133 

consensus of a modern scientific or historical scholarship. 
The Scriptures are our only and infallible rule; and our 
rule is so trustworthy, and our faith in it so absolute and supreme 
that, while science and history are continuously passing away, 
we know by faith that one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass 
from the Scriptures till all be fulfilled." 

ON CO-OPERATION WITH THE GENERAL SYNOD 

Long before the Buffalo Convention, Dr. Schmauk 
sought to establish closer relations with the General 
Synod. He and Dr. Dunbar, neighboring pastors in 
Lebanon, strove to arrange for a common Graded Series 
of Sunday School Lessons for both bodies. Plans were 
definitely laid by them for such a possible outcome at 
the meeting of the General Synod in 1901 at Dubuque, 
Iowa. But when an effort was made by the Pacific 
Synod to establish a union Theological Seminary on the 
Pacific Coast and the General Synod later at Sunbury 
had authorized its Board of Education to give it support 
"provided the confessional basis of the proposed semi- 
nary conforms to that of the General Synod," he felt 
that the time had come to get clear on the question of 
confessional subscription, and a clear statement appears 
in his report bearing on this point. 

Dr. Jacobs was accordingly asked to prepare theses, 
comparing the bases of faith of the two bodies. Dr. 
Schmauk believed that the only sure way of getting 
closer together was frankly to face confessional differ- 
ences. Calmly but firmly, with charity toward all and 
malice toward none, the position of the General Council 
as over against that of the General Synod, with whose 
history its own had been much interlinked, was stated 
in so thorough and admirable a manner by Dr. Jacobs 
as to rank among the finest expositions of its kind ever 



134 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

made. The discussions on them were noted both for 
their candor and their irenic spirit. 

It was a trying hour for Dr. Keyser, the fraternal 
visitor of the General Synod, and a delicate mission for 
him to fulfill. But the President saw to it that he should 
be given every opportunity to fulfill it, and he did it 
with great credit. With so much confessional electricity 
in the air, it was difficult to discover just what wires it 
was safe to touch; but Dr. Keyser knew the combina- 
tions well and won to himself a host of friends and ad- 
mirers. 

In the Lutheran World of September 26, 1907, Dr. 
Keyser writes as follows : 

"President Schmauk knows how to rush business. While he 
is uniformly courteous and fair, so far as we could see, he knows 
how to 'railroad' (this word is used in the good sense) a measure 
through when it would be useless to spend time in debating. He 
has quite a faculty for getting rid of the 'adiaphora' both in 
business and in doctrine. Sometimes he cuts off a member a little 
shortly, but we suppose the members of the General Council know 
him to be so large-hearted and generous that they do not seem 
to take offense." 

He then continues: 

"No doubt General Synod readers will be chiefly concerned 
to know what kind of a reception was accorded to the fraternal 
visitor from that body. We can truly say that we were treated 
with much courtesy. As soon as there was a little breathing spell 
in the business after our arrival, we were introduced with the 
kindliest expressions possible by the pastor loci, Dr. Kaehler, 
and the President, Dr. Schmauk, and by a hearty vote were ac- 
corded the privilege of the floor in the sessions. Before the time 
for our fraternal greetings arrived, a stirring question involving 
the General Synod arose, when Dr. Schmauk courteously called 
upon us to speak, not waiting for us to request the privilege of 
giving the General Synod's side of the case. Afterwards, when- 



THE CONFESSIONAL HIGH-WATER MARK 135 

ever a matter pertaining to the General Synod arose, the Presi- 
dent called upon us to give our testimony. Once on Tuesday, 
when we had stepped out of the auditorium into the church par- 
lors for a few minutes, the question of the relation of the General 
Synod and the General Council came up. Dr. Schmauk sent an 
urgent message for us to come at once into the main room to 
hear and take part in the discussion. All our speeches were 
listened to with the utmost respect, even when we would see 
signs of disagreement. In his response to our greetings the 
president paid us a personal tribute that we modestly felt was 
quite unmerited. Indeed, we were so favorably impressed with 
the spirituality, earnestness, scholarship and courtesy of the 
members of the General Council that we could not help feeling 
the intensest longing that there might be the utmost friendliness, 
confidence and co-operation between that body and the General 
Synod. 

"You may rely upon it, brethren, that this was one of the 
main causes, perhaps the main cause, of the difficulty. It was those 
criticisms on the Formula of Concord that created, in the main, 
the dubious feeling, and that among the leaders of the General 
Council. We cite this incident as proof : In our address we 
expressed strong personal appreciation of all the Symbols of 
the Church, though we carefully refrained from saying that we 
thought all of them ought to be subscribed to confessionally. 
In his brief and apt reply to our address, Dr. Schmauk, the 
President of the General Council, declared that if we could as- 
sure them that all our ministers and theologians occupied the 
same friendly attitude toward the Church Symbols, 'there would 
be no trouble.' That one sentence, spoken impromptu, threw a 
flood of light on the situation. The fact is, it told the whole 
story." 

The distance from that scene to another at Washing- 
ton, D. C, in 1911, when the General Synod brought 
its confessional basis into harmony with that of the 
General Council and thus prepared the way for the union 
in 1918, was not great — even if a little tortuous. Thus 
did Buffalo, under the leadership of Dr. Schmauk, be- 



136 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

come the starting point for the journey that led to New 
York. The candor that faces differences instead of 
concealing them is the only true friend of unity and con- 
cord. More than once in his letters did Dr. Schmauk 
express himself to that effect. 

ON CO-OPERATION WITH OTHER CHRISTIANS 

As the subject of co-operation with the Federal Coun- 
cil of Churches was sprung upon him during the bien- 
nium, he believed it wise to define the attitude of the 
General Council upon this question, and the following 
statement appears in his report: 

"The General Council bears an open and loving and helpful, 
not a closed, attitude toward those without, i. e., toward those 
seeking the truth, or who uphold honest convictions in the fear 
of God and with uncorrupt will. It is the nature of our body 
to be patient, bearing all things, having pleasure in approval 
rather than in condemnation; in concord rather than in discord. 
The first of our Confessions — that of Augsburg — and the last, 
the Form of Concord, in substance and tone, and our own his- 
tory, are set in evidence on that point. We are willing and 
anxious to co-operate for the saving of souls and the upbuilding 
of Christ's kingdom with all of God's children wheresoever they 
be found. 

"Yet we are prevented from co-operating if thereby an injury 
is done to our conscience ; or if we thereby compromise one iota 
of our most precious treasure, for which we have been called 
into existence; a treasure which is blood-bought, and above all 
price; and for which thousands of confessors have laid down 
home, friends, worldly success and life. 

"This treasure is the pure doctrine of salvation. With those 
to whom the purity of the faith, the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, 
means much, will we walk up to the point where both conclude 
we must part. But with those to whom the purity of the faith 
means little, or less than all — less than friendship, blood, practical 
success, the spirit of the age, and similar considerations — we are 
always in danger. Our chief treasure they do not so highly re- 



THE CONFESSIONAL HIGH-WATER MARK 137 

gard, and we cannot entrust it to them with the feeling that it 
is safe. They place other things on a par with this treasure, or 
above it, and this is a case where no man can have two masters : 
for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he 
will hold to the one and despise the other. 

"Since we exist solely for the sake of the pure Gospel prin- 
ciple, and all other things are subordinate, even our best friends 
without (and still less our enemies) cannot ask us to commit 
ourselves to association with any people, plan, teachings, or tem- 
perament which would derogate from our doctrine ; or which 
would convey the impression to the wayfaring man that we have 
loosened our hold and relaxed our standard of the truth. 

"Wherever we can work with a common Christianity, or with 
a common Lutheranism, with the assurance that no harm, im- 
mediate or remote, will come to our one great purpose of testi- 
mony to the truth, or to our integrity of conscience, we are ready 
to do so with joy; but wherever we are in doubt as to such a 
happy issue — and we must be our own judges — it is right and 
reasonable for us to decline to run any risk of exposing our 
highest good to danger, for the sake of attaining a lower and less 
important good; and no one in his fair and honest heart can 
blame us for failing to join in such a common movement. 

"We do attach the greatest importance to every Word of God ; 
but we do not attach the greatest importance, except as a matter 
of high ideal, effective work, and wise expediency, to unity of ex- 
ternal ecclesiastical organization. Our unwillingness to co- 
operate with others, if it be an honest and conscientious thing, 
is not to be taken as a sign of dead orthodoxy, but as a sign of a 
living faith ; it is not to be regarded as an evidence of a narrow 
outlook, but as a willingness to stand by one's convictions; it is 
not to be branded as a love of denomination or of Church above 
Christ ; but is to be respected as an unswerving loyalty to Christ 
and His truth as we see it. 

"If this be true, we are in a position to lay down a safe and 
impregnable rule for co-operation on the part of the General 
Council, viz., 'The General Council can co-operate in all matters 
in which it can openly apply its Fundamental Principles of Faith 
and Polity as a basis ; and only in these.' 

"That this quality of a patient and open mind on the one hand, 



138 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

and a firm grasp on truth on the other, really characterizes the 
General Council may be seen in its history." 

This naturally led to a further question as to what 
was involved in the much-tailked-of fellowship among 
Christians of different shades of belief and a further 
statement is made on 

"THE PRINCIPLE OF FELLOWSHIP" 

"Fellowship is a far more intimate thing than co-operation. 
Co-operation is a combined support in prosecution of a business 
plan; but fellowship is a life together. Co-operation is a limited 
association for definite ends ; but fellowship is an unlimited asso- 
ciation in spiritual life. Fellowship throws open all the doors, 
unlocks all the strong boxes, and bids the other one abide in our 
soul and heart. 

"Modern Christianity greatly abuses the principle of fellow- 
ship; and in so far destroys both its value and its sacredness. On 
the grounds of a broad humanity it would admit even those to 
the heart of the Church who despise the precious merits of the 
Head of the Church. 

"Within recent years it has become customary in sectarian 
America for Christians to worship God on certain great and 
public occasions in common with those who deny the name of 
Christ." 

It will thus be seen that large and far-reaching ques- 
tions were brought to the fore by this energetic and 
broad-visioned president — questions that gave him much 
thought and concern and that later absorbed his strength 
and energies to such an extent as ultimately to lead 
him to a premature death. He opened the floodgates at 
the Buffalo Convention and was carried far afield in 
the onrush of the waters in his endeavor to stem the 
tide and hold the Council true to its faith and principles. 
SERIOUS LOSSES BY DEATH 

Previous to the meeting of the Buffalo Council, he 
was called upon to mourn the loss by death of his mother, 



THE CONFESSIONAL HIGH-WATER MARK 139 

who had passed away May 5, 1906. This left a void 
that was keenly felt. It is doubtful whether any son 
at his age could have leaned more confidingly and de- 
pendently upon a mother than did he. What she was 
to him, he gave expression to under " Sunday School 
Notes" in The Lutheran in the following words: 

"SUNDAY SCHOOL NOTES" 

"In memory of a mother, who received with meekness the 
Word of God, not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the 
Word of God, which is able to save our souls; who taught and 
trained as only a mother can train and teach out of the love 
of her own heart and in the continuous sacrifice of her own life; 
and on whom her children leaned heavily to the end, for strength 
in fidelity to the old Gospel and to duty, for fearlessness in dan- 
ger, caution in difficulties, patience in trial, comfort in weakness, 
and for counsel and welcome in every hour. Good mother, who 
hast listened and loved and clung with all thy soul to them whom 
God gave unto thee, thou art more than books to the preacher, 
more than colleges to the student, more than teacher and systems 
of education to the child. Thy love is the shelter and covert 
for the most precious blossoms and the most tender growing 
vines of a godly life. Thou art more than all the world, with 
its vain ambitions and idle honors, to the memory and heart 
that looks up into the sunshine of thy Christly countenance. 

T. E. S." 

Serious losses to the General Council had also oc- 
curred. Among them was the death of his father's most 
intimate friend, Dr. Krotel, on whom he had counted to 
furnish reminiscences at Buffalo of the events leading 
up to the organization of the General Council. The 
prominent part he took as head of the Pennsylvania 
delegation and as a conspicuous leader in the later his- 
tory of the General Council is noted appreciatingly in 
Dr. Schmauk's report. A second loss was that of his 
genial friend and neighbor, Dr. Schantz, of Myerstown; 



140 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

a third, that of the respected and revered Dr. Repass; 
a fourth, that of the widely known Dr. Geissinger, whose 
charming, sunny disposition had won for him a host 
of admiring friends; a fifth, that of Dr. Wm. Ashmead 
SchaefTer, "a true scion of an illustrious ancestry." It 
is needless to say that these losses weighed heavily on 
his mind. All of them were props he had leaned upon. 



CHAPTER XIV 
Administrative Problems 

"Our century is the age of organised movements. There is a 
society to 'promote' nearly every cause under the sun. But it is 
still a question whether in the aggregate our great 'systems' of 
activity do not absorb more precious vitality than they emit. The 
words of the sage of Concord are ivorth pondering : 'We shall 
one day see that the most private is the most public energy, that 
quality atones for quantity, and grandeur of character acts in the 
dark and succors them who never saiv it.' " — Schmauk. 

DR. SCHMAUK was not long in discovering that 
if the General Council were to be more than 
a loose and inefficient confederation, it must 
function as a strong administrative unit. From the 
Swedish point of view, who desired it to be a federation 
with advisory powers only, this would have continued 
to be impossible. The field of common interests would 
have been so very much contracted as to rob the Council 
of all administrative and unifying power. This spirit 
and tendency within the body had the effect of arraying 
the interests of the Council against those of synods and 
boards and to make the former a sort of fifth wheel in 
the wagon. It was by no means confined to the Swedes, 
but was fostered and encouraged by prominent leaders 
in other sections of the general body. Through their 
influence, the boards and other agencies functioned more 
or less independently and became a law unto themselves. 
This caused the President an endless amount of anxiety 
and thrust upon him much unrequited labor. He was 
far from believing in centralized power. The mania 
for mere organization never appealed to him. But he 



142 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

felt the need of a deeper sense of General Council cath- 
olicity and solidarity. He did not want this body, with 
an honorable history behind it, to be regarded as a tem- 
porary makeshift until it should be ready to lose its 
identity in a new alignment of Lutheran forces in the 
country. 

frra letter addressed in 1911 to a layman, who favored 
greater solidarity, he quotes a leading member of the 
Pennsylvania Ministerium who wrote: 

Our people must not be so drawn to Council work as to neglect 
our Ministerium's present obligations. That is the danger in cer- 
tain centres. We must fight for our own educational claims in 
such centres as Philadelphia and Lancaster. Our Home Mission 
work, necessary as it is, is always pressing others to the wall. 
We need a larger balance and a better adjustment of all our 
work. In addition, let us be careful lest our enthusiastic brethren 
bring about the elimination of the Scandinavians from the Council. 

He then comments on it in the following vein: 

This principle to my mind will paralyze the progress of a whole 
generation. If we are to work in any large way through the 
General Council, we must value and build up its organization. 
To cherish it merely as an idea, to be dropped by and by, is to 
go back into primitive helplessness. There need be no fears, 
if the time should come for a united Lutheran Church in America, 
that a strong organization of the General Council would prevent 
that. It would not prevent, but would further such a consum- 
mation, when the time is ripe. 

A spirit such as this opens the door to destructive work by 
selfish interests, in very great crises. We cannot command the loy- 
alty of our own best followers in a crisis. That is what worries me. 

It did worry him beyond measure; for he felt that 
what made other Lutheran bodies so strong and efficient 
was the sense of unity and the spirit of loyalty — the 
very thing that was lacking in the General Council, shot 
through as it was with sectionalism and individualism. 



ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 143 

What did much to encourage the sectional and divi- 
sional spirit in the General Council was the low-church, 
or congregational, conception of Church polity which 
was advocated by leading teachers in the Council. To 
him it seemed as if they left little room for "the general 
conception of the Lutheran Church as a church ; and 
that we are reduced to the two extremes of a local in- 
dividual body called the congregation, and the general 
assembly of all believers, or invisible Church, called the 
Church." He so writes to Dr. Krotel in 1905, before 
the meeting of the Milwaukee Council. He further says : 

"The independence, and independent rights, and inde- 
pendent liberties of a single local visible Christian con- 
gregation, as over against the common consent of the 
churches of the same faith, duly and lawfully obtained, 
do not seem to me to have a just existence." While 
admitting that the Christian congregation is the primal 
and abiding unity, he insists that the larger governmental 
unity of a general organization, which represents the 
local congregations, also has a place in the divine econ- 
omy which often receives scant recognition. In this 
same letter, which is of considerable length, he proceeds 
to show that the Confessions use the word "Church," not 
only to designate "the invisible body of Christ" on the one 
hand and the local congregation on the other, but also as 
a term applying to a visible body of saints united in 
the same confession for the fulfillment of a common mis- 
sion. He quotes from the Confessions language which 
hardly leaves any doubt as to the correctness of his 
contention, and then concludes with these words: 

Now, my dear Doctor, I feel that the future of the General 
Council Lutheran Church in this country, in view of the close 



144 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

association of so many different nationalities, each of whom is 
inclined to local individualism and independence, not for the sake 
of preserving the Gospel, but from racial prejudice, depends much 
more on a proper upholding of our right to the use of the 
general term than it does upon our attempting to guard against 
the concentration into external ecclesiastical power at the top, or 
the magnifying of a general external organization. 

This is sufficient to explain why Dr. Schmauk all 
through his presidential career favored more power for 
the General Council as such and less for its boards, com- 
mittees, and voluntary agencies not under the direct 
control of the general body. He insisted that the latter 
must do obeisance to the former and not the former to 
the latter. 

ON MEN'S AND WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS 

As is well known, Dr. Schmauk was not keen for 
men's or women's organizations that functioned more 
or less independently, and were liable to withdraw in- 
terest and energy away from the constituted and author- 
ized agencies of the Church. He was opposed to move- 
ments that were not properly adjusted to the organized 
Church's machinery and believed them to be parasitic in 
character, dissipating and diverting much energy that 
could be used to good purpose were it applied to exist- 
ing agencies under the direction of Synod or Council. 
When before the meeting of the Minneapolis Convention 
in 1909 several active and trusted laymen suggested the 
organization of a Laymen's Union, he pointed out the 
difficulties that must be encountered and met if it were 
•to function to advantage. 1. Some ministers and synods 
would hardly be prepared for it. 2. The laity might 
thus become divided and it would become a party move- 
ment. 3. "For the sake of making the organization gen- 



ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 145 

eral, the more volatile element of the laity would prob- 
ably have to be drawn in," but could not be depended 
on for solid work, and "after an initial flare up it might 
fall away into decline and dissolution." 

He then suggests that a canvass might be made of 
the whole situation to ascertain where the most reliable 
lay material is, but believes it to be best to "go half way 
in the matter at Minneapolis," to discuss the situation 
at a laymen's meeting and ask the Council to appoint a 
"standing committee on laymen's work, with authority 
to secure information on the subject from all synods in 
the Council." Then he concludes with a statement which 
shows how clear was his insight with regard to organi- 
zations loosely formed in thek relation to the organized 
Church itself. 

The Lutheran Church is a Church which makes each congre- 
gation the center of authority, and by our general organizations, 
such as the Women's Home and Foreign Missionary Society, or 
the Luther League who attempt to organize local centers in con- 
gregations, which are not in living touch with the congregation 
itself and its Church Council, are introducing a species of gen- 
eral machinery which in time is almost sure to come into clash 
with the machinery which the genius and spirit of our Church 
recognizes. Here is still an unsolved problem in the Church, 
how to secure an easy diffusion of the general movement with a 
complete recognition of the autonomy of the individual congre- 
gation. It is a question in Church polity, and one which will 
ultimately bring much blessedness or much woe to the Lutheran 
Church. 

His report at the Minneapolis Convention shows that 
he was not opposed to a Laymen's organization but fa- 
vored it, only he wanted it to be rightly lodged or rooted 
into the organized Church itself. As he writes to an- 
other layman, "What we need to do is to make it the 
organ of the actual work of the Council, and not to let 
K 



146 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

it fly away on the wings of sentiment." Because of his 
fear that movements born of mere enthusiasm and sen- 
timent might prove to be out of joint with the properly 
constituted agencies of the Church, he was often mis- 
understood and spoken of as opposed to Laymen's or- 
ganizations. But the laymen who consulted with him 
always found him ready to favor any movement that 
gave promise of being orderly and serviceable because 
rightly connected with the Church's machinery. 

DR. SCHMAUK AND THE WOMAN'S MISSIONARY SOCIETY 

This fear of organizations not properly correlated 
with the work of the organized Church caused Dr. 
Schmauk to be regarded as opposed to the Woman's 
Missionary Society. It is well known that he was by 
no means hostile to the Society as such, but often felt 
that some of its leaders were not inclined to adjust their 
workings and methods to the constituted order of the 
Church. The enthusiasm for a great, all-inclusive 
national body, with many ambitious and far-reaching 
schemes that could never be realized as a goal to strive 
after, made him regard the Society as not a functioning 
part of the Church, but independent, one that would pre- 
vent real cohesion and militate against regularity. A 
spirit of disloyalty to the General Council seemed to 
him to be fostered by some, and he distrusted the Society 
not knowing whether it might be led in its zeal to im- 
port ideas and methods foreign to the spirit and life of 
Lutheranism. 

As later events proved, the misunderstandings that 
arose were due chiefly to a failure to confer and co- 
operate. When contact was once established between 
the President of the General Council and officials in the 
Society, it was found that the former responded most 



ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 147 

cheerfully and took a deep interest in the work of the 
Society. Confidence was restored, because it became 
evident that the Society was not disposed to be a law 
unto itself but was ready to co-operate with the officials 
of the Church. The tide turned in 1916, when the situ- 
ation was reviewed by the two officials of the Council 
and of the Society of the Pennsylvania Ministerium 
and a proper co-operative relationship established. Under 
the leadership of Dr. W. D. C. Keiter this relation of 
co-ordination is now a settled policy in The United Luth- 
eran Church, whose constitution has been made to ex- 
press what shall be the limitations and functions of socie- 
ties and agencies connected with that body. Not the 
slightest friction or misunderstanding occurred when 
once the principle was settled, that any society profess- 
ing to do service in the Church must place itself in a 
position where it can function as a part of the Church 
if its usefulness is not to be impaired. When once proper 
co-ordination was established Dr. Schmauk advocated 
the presence of women at the meetings of the Mission 
Boards and thus paved the way for hearty co-operation 
and the removal of misunderstandings. That achieve- 
ment has been handed down as a legacy to The United 
Lutheran Church as its constitution amply attests. 

DR. SCHMAUK AND THE GERMANS 

As President of the General Council, Dr. Schmauk 
realized from the very beginning that there was a Ger- 
man problem of considerable magnitude pressing for 
solution. The German communicant membership of the 
Council formed about one-fifth of the entire body. The 
New York Ministerium, the Canada and Manitoba Syn- 
ods, the Philadelphia German Conference, together 
with several groups in the Pittsburgh Synod, rep- 



148 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

resented a considerable German constituency whose 
varied needs had to he taken into serious account. Un- 
like the Augustana, Iowa and other Western Synods, 
there was no common college or seminary from which 
an adequate ministry for the preaching of the Word 
to many thousands of German Lutherans who were as 
sheep without a shepherd could be recruited. The only 
co'llege was Wagner College, supported by the New 
York Ministerium and drawing its students almost ex- 
clusively from that body. The Philadelphia Seminary, 
while it always had one or two German professors, and 
others who were familiar with the German language, 
fell far short of attracting a sufficient number of Ger- 
man students to meet even the most imperative needs 
of the mission situation. Hence mission work on any 
scale commensurate with the opportunities and respon- 
sibilities of the Council was out of the question; and 
but for the aggressive mission work of other Lutheran 
bodies, the story of the Lutheran Church's marvelous 
growth resulting from the ingathering of hundreds of 
thousands of German immigrants in the eighties and 
nineties would have read far differently. 

Separated as the German Synods and German groups 
within the other synods were, and without a common 
church paper as a bond and medium of communication, 
there was a lack of cohesion among them which made 
the undertaking of any big task for missionary expan- 
sion impossible. Because of inevitable differences of 
tastes and tendencies, which reflected the peculiarities of 
Lutheran thought and life in the various sections of 
Germany from which the large immigrations in the latter 
half of the nineteenth century came, and which them- 
selves were differentiated from the older German popu- 



ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 149 

lations in America, unity and solidarity of action among 
them was rendered exceedingly difficult. The parochial 
and provincial spirit was quite pronounced among them, 
and the witty remark of Dr. Mann that "where there 
are five Germans you can expect six different opinions" 
was not altogether without justification, though it would 
have applied with almost equal truth to some more 
native American elements within the General Council 
where individualism was much in evidence. The four 
or more different German church papers abundantly evi- 
denced this lack of unity and solidarity. 

Dr. Schmauk soon acquired an intelligent grasp of the 
situation and entered into sympathetic relations with the 
German brethren, studying with them their problems 
and working with them toward their solution. His con- 
ferences with such men as Dr. Spaeth, Dr. Berkemeier 
(German Secretary of the General Council), Revs. Dr. 
Hoffmann of the Canada Synod, Reinhold Tappert of 
the New York Ministerium, Adolph Hellwege of the 
Pennsylvania Ministerium, and many others became so 
numerous as to make heavy drains upon his time and 
energy. Like Dr. Krotel, he understood the German 
nature, appreciated its sturdy inner strength, and knew 
how to weld together elements which at times seemed 
hopelessly separated. 

It was in the decade beginning with 1880, that Luth- 
erans from the various sections of Germany kept pour- 
ing into the United States by the hundred thousand, 
many of them repopulating New England. The need 
of missionaries to gather them into the Church became 
acute. As the Philadelphia Seminary could not begin 
to furnish a sufficient number of German pastors to mis- 
sionate in New England and Canada, most promising 



150 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

fields were left untouched or were taken in charge by 
Missouri and other Lutheran bodies. Under these cir- 
cumstances, it was natural that parts of the Church in 
Germany should follow the Lutheran emigration to 
America and endeavor to supply a ministry for them. 
Then arose the vexed question as to the advisability of 
importing German pastors who did not take at least a 
part of their Seminary course in the Philadelphia Semi- 
nary so as to become more intimately acquainted with 
American Church life and conditions, and to acquire a 
knowledge of the English language. 

As the Kropp Seminary had, under the leadership of 
its head, Pastor Paulsen, furnished from year to year 
a considerable number of pastors and missionaries, 
many of them quite able and self-sacrificing, there arose 
considerable misunderstanding and soon the Council had 
on its hands a delicate and perplexing Kropp question. 
As they were not made to feel at home among their 
German brethren, due to the difference of opinion as 
to the necessity of pastors spending at least one year 
at the Philadelphia Seminary, much ill-feeling was en- 
gendered and not a few of them drifted into the Iowa, 
Ohio and Missouri Synods. Much ground was lost to 
the General Council in Western Canada on the territory 
of the Manitoba Synod, and rich mission fields in New 
England that would have added much to the strength 
of the Council were neglected in consequence. 

Here was a question which at once engaged all the 
wisdom and resourcefulness of the President of the 
Council and at much expense of thought and energy 
he set to work a policy that would tend to harmonize 
existing differences. He saw the need of a bond of union 
among the Germans all the more because of what the 



ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 151 

Swedes were able to accomplish in their united strength. 
The same ability to put himself in the place of the 
Swedes and see things from their point of view was 
shown in Dr. Schmauk's dealings with the Germans in 
the General Council. He could grasp situations and con- 
ditions remote from his immediate environment with re- 
markable good sense and intelligence. His open mind 
and genuine sympathy enabled him to get at the heart 
of a problem or difficulty, and to view things from all 
sides without prejudice and with the single purpose to 
reconcile differences on the basis of truth and justice. 
He acquainted himself with relations and conditions so 
thoroughly as to astonish many who should have been 
in a position to know more and better than he. He was 
patient and conciliatory, and when he arrived at a con- 
clusion, he could present it in so convincing a manner 
as to win fullest confidence and assent. 

In 1907 Pastor Paulsen, the leading spirit of Kropp 
Seminary, came to America in behalf of the institution 
and paid the President of the General Council a visit. 
He was deeply impressed with Dr. Schmauk's person- 
ality, and in his description of his visit in the Seminary's 
Anzeiger speaks of him as a "remarkably gifted and 
well-informed clergyman and theologian." He says: 

Two hours did I spend with the President of the General Coun- 
cil discussing with him a great variety of subjects. The highly 
interesting views he expressed accorded with my own in every 
respect. He is gifted with a wonderful memory. He recalled a 
sermon he heard me preach in Dr. Spaeth's pulpit, but of which 
I could not remember a single word. When he reproduced it in 
substance, I said to myself, "Yes, that's my sermon." 

It was when Pastor Paulsen was welcomed to Dr. 
Spaeth's pulpit (for Dr. Spaeth was one among not a 



152 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

few who contended that students for the German min- 
istry should have at least part of their training in the 
Philadelphia Seminary) and when later he paid a visit 
to Dr. Schmauk, that the way was prepared for the 
solution of a vexed problem. 

The need of greater solidarity among the Germans 
grew upon him, and he, in co-operation with the Ger- 
man Secretary, Dr. Berkemeier, and Dr. Spaeth, ar- 
ranged to have the Buffalo Convention appoint a com- 
mittee to issue a call for a German Conference to be 
held at Rochester, N. Y., the following year, 1908. Pre- 
vious to this, Dr. Berkemeier had spent a night with 
Rev. Reinhold Tappert, then pastor in Meriden, Con- 
necticut, and the entire Kropp situation was thoroughly 
reviewed. Dr. Schmauk was made fully acquainted with 
the facts and the difficulties, and at once marshalled the 
German brethren in line for the holding of the confer- 
ence. It proved to be the beginning of a new era in 
the history of the German work of the General Council. 
Old things passed rapidly away and all things bore the 
promise of becoming new. During the years that fol- 
lowed, an enormous correspondence was carried on by 
the President with many of the German brethren which 
reveals how complete was his mastery of the situation 
and how unbounded the confidence these brethren re- 
posed in their counselor and friend. 

At the Minneapolis Convention in 1909, he reports 
as follows : 

I draw attention to the element of hopefulness and the spirit of 
unity which have entered into the German work of the General 
Council, and to the period of constructive development with which 
the German Church may be able to enter, for the ultimate benefit 
of the whole General Council Church, if the Council will sup- 
port and strengthen their hands. 



ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 153 

For the first time in a generation, our Germans are thoroughly 
united in sentiment, purpose and plan, and this in harmony with 
the work that obtains in the English and Scandinavian parts of 
the Council. This situation is largely the result of the German 
Conference held last fall at Rochester and opened with a ser- 
mon by Dr. Spaeth on I Cor. 1 :10. 

The Conference asks Council to found a German official organ, 
which they will support, commends the work of Wagner College 
and recommends that the General Council enter into official rela- 
tion with the Theological Seminary in Kropp, Germany. In 
addition to this, the New York Ministerium has elected Dr. 
Offermann, a graduate of Kropp, and a member of the Pennsyl- 
vania Ministerium, as its professor in its Theological Seminary. 
The Council has a rare opportunity before it of setting forward 
a work which otherwise may never be accomplished. 

Thus a happy solution to a vexed problem was effected 
that resulted later in the sending of Prof. Dr. C. T. 
Benze to the Kropp Seminary to represent the General 
Council as its American teacher. When The United Luth- 
eran Church was formed, through the efforts of Dr. E. 
F. Bachman, who went to Germany as commissioner, 
the union of the Kropp and Breklum Seminaries was 
consummated, which was designed to furnish German 
pastors for greatly enlarged needs should the expected 
emigration from Germany take place as a result of the 
late war. 

The alignment of the German forces in the General 
Council had put new life into the German synods con- 
nected with the Council, of which the projected Semi- 
nary at Saskatoon, Canada, is a hopeful augury and evi- 
dence. When the fruits of this union of forces shall 
have become more fully apparent, no name will be held 
in more grateful remembrance among the German breth- 
ren of the former Council than that of the trusted 
and beloved Dr. Schmauk. He was their great 



154 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

champion in the Council and in The United Lutheran 
Church, and his loss was most keenly felt by them 
when they looked in vain for another like champion at 
the Washington Convention in 1920. 

WATERLOO SEMINARY 

For some years, the German Canada Synod felt the 
need of a seminary for the training of a ministry within 
its own bounds. The young men who were educated at 
Wagner College and Mt. Airy Seminary, as a rule, failed 
to return to do service in Canada, and in 1910 the de- 
cision was reached by this synod, in co-operation with 
the English Synod of Central Canada, to establish such a 
school. The intention at first was to locate it in Toronto 
and connect it with Toronto University, so that its stu- 
dents might have the benefit of a thorough collegiate 
course. 

No sooner had Dr. Schmauk learned of this purpose 
than he began to feel a sense of uneasiness concerning 
the project, and on two grounds. First, the mode of 
procedure was not orderly. The matter had not been 
brought to the attention of the General Council which 
must needs be vitally interested in the establishment of 
a seminary within its jurisdiction. Second, was it wise 
to connect a Lutheran Seminary with a non-Lutheran 
university? After some correspondence with Dr. Hoff- 
mann, one of the prime movers and supporters of the 
project (and now president of the Seminary that was 
then in prospect), a conference was arranged to be held 
at Buffalo, where it was agreed that its establishment 
should be delayed until the General Council should have 
given it sanction. 

His clear foresight and his instinct for orderly pro- 
cedure are fully apparent in two papers addressed to 



ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 155 

the brethren interested in the proposed seminary. In 
the one, he calls attention to the need of co-ordination 
so as to conserve all the German interests in the Council 
and bring them into unity. He states that but recently 
certain relations with Kropp Seminary had been entered 
into and pleads that for unity's sake the two interests 
be properly harmonized. "You can readily imagine the 
worry that the officers of the General Council have had, 
when they have received no word of tidings of any kind 
as to this movement except what is reported in the 
papers." Then follow a number of pertinent questions 
which go to the heart of the matter and call for a clear 
answer. 

The other paper is addressed to the Canada Synod, 
after he has become convinced that a Seminary is needed. 
But he gives cogent reasons why it should not be located 
in Toronto and connected with the University. 

"Your Synod has always been one of the bulwarks of sound 
Confessionalism in the General Council." — "You have been op- 
posed to secret societies. You have stood against unionism, union 
evangelical work, and all interdenominational forms of a com- 
mon American Christianity in which our Lutheran doctrine was 
washed away or blunted." — "My fear is not for this generation, 
but for your own sons on your own soil, whom you are about 
to train up in connection with a large university, where the union- 
ists forms of a common Christianity are almost sure to be recog- 
nized, and where the hearts of the young men will be almost sure 
to soften down favorably towards them. The Y. M. C. A., the 
common Interdenominational Missionary Societies, the common 
forms of Christian Endeavor, in our modern university life, 
have their use as over against unbelief and immorality in uni- 
versity circles, but our Lutheran students cannot enter into alli- 
ances or relationships with this common Christian life in the 
universities without the greatest danger of weakening their 
Lutheran principles." 



156 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

He advises the German and English brethren to weigh 
well this important matter before deciding upon a loca- 
tion and warns them against the danger of the rational- 
ism of such men as MacFayden in the University. He 
concludes with these words: 

The English Church is under a greater strain than the Ger- 
man in standing out for a sound Lutheranism. It is more tempted 
to imitate and follow the lead of the other Protestant denomina- 
tions. Its young men and its students are under the greatest 
temptation to get ideas and convictions during their college and 
university career which weaken their hold on a genuine Lutheran 
practice. If our German and English brethren in Canada can 
unite in training up a generation of German and English pastors 
in which both the English and the Germans shall be sound on 
the Four Points of the General Council, and shall stand faithfully 
against the denominations around them, they will be accomplish- 
ing a most glorious work, and one in which the General Council 
should ever take the greatest pride. Be certain before you start 
that your safeguards are such that your young men will not 
gravitate downward toward the level of the common American 
Protestantism. 

A letter to him from Dr. Hoffmann, dated April 10, 
1911, shows that the latter, though a resident of Toronto, 
was in complete accord with him and advocated strongly 
the populous Lutheran center of Berlin and Waterloo 
as the proper location. The General Council at Lancas- 
ter in the same year endorsed the movement and the 
Seminary became a fact. 

RELATIONS WITH THE IOWA SYNOD 

The two sainted Doctors Fritchel, Sigmund and Gott- 
lieb, who were brothers, were widely known and recog- 
nized as the pillars of strength in the Iowa Synod. This 
was particularly the case with regard to Sigmund, who 
was one of the leading Lutheran lights in the country, 



ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 157 

a devout and gifted son of the Church of whom it could 
be truly said, "Cor theologum facit." Through his lead- 
ership chiefly, and through his intimate friendship with 
Drs. Spaeth and Krauth, the Iowa Synod took a deep 
interest in the organization of the General Council, and 
while it did not feel prepared to connect itself organic- 
ally with the Council because of its distinctively German 
interests, it maintained the most friendly relations with 
it for many years. After both had passed away, and 
particularly after the death in 1910 of Dr. Spaeth, who 
was a strong connecting link between the two bodies, 
the bonds became less firm and finally snapped asunder 
in 1917. 

It was at Norristown, in 1903, when Dr. Schmauk 
was elected President of the General Council, that he 
became deeply interested in the question of cementing 
the ties between the two bodies and exerted himself to 
that end with ardent devotion and zeal. The spirit of 
Iowa, as over against that of Missouri and Ohio, ap- 
pealed to him strongly. Its piety, alertness and activity; 
its evangelical frankness and openness of mind, coupled 
with its unswerving fidelity to the faith — reminded him 
of the Halle and Muhlenberg spirit of earlier days and 
made him feel a nearness to that body which he could 
not feel toward any other. It had revolted against the 
legalistic hardness and rigidity of other Lutheran bodies, 
and he felt that as a leavening influence in the General 
Council it would prove to be a most steadying and whole- 
some factor. 

When Professor Proehl of the Dubuque Seminary 
represented the Iowa Synod as fraternal visitor at the 
Norristown Council, its newly-elected president was 



158 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

deeply impressed with his address. He later quotes a 
part of it as follows: 

There never has been a time when the Synod of Iowa has not 
sustained intimate and cordial relations with the General Council. 
I may remind you that the warmest friendship existed between 
the founders and fathers of your body and the now sainted fathers 
and founders of our Synod. In great magnanimity the General 
Council has not only taken an interest in the work of our Synod, 
but has also extended to us much help and assistance. But what 
is of the greatest importance is the fact that we are conscious 
that we are in full unity in faith as well as in our confessions. 
We consider the doctrinal position of the General Council the 
true and sound basis for the unification of all true Lutherans in 
our country. We thank God that our dear Lutheran Church has 
found in the General Council a faithful defender and promoter 
of its best traditions and a successful champion of the Gospel 
truth. Great things have already been accomplished in the up- 
building of true and sound Lutheranism, and in the future of the 
General Council and along the lines it has laid down, we see the 
glorious future of our Church. It is the best representatio 
nominis Lutherani, — as conservative as it is progressive, as much 
bound as it is free, it unites fidelity to God's Word, and the Con- 
fessions of our Church, with an open eye and intelligent grasp 
of the duties of the present hour, seeking to preserve and increase 
the rich heritage of the Church of the Reformation, and avoiding 
extremes both to the right and the left. 

At the present time there is a strong agitation for union, es- 
pecially among the Western Synods, but I fear that the attempt 
will be made to bring the freedom of our Church under an un- 
bearable yoke and to convert the Church of Luther into a school. 
Over against such endeavors we see in the work of the General 
Council our only hope for true union, and in her doctrines the 
banner around which all the faithful Lutherans of our country 
may rally. 

A speech like that naturally awakened the highest 
hopes in the new President that the day of actual union 
would not be far distant. His first report at Milwaukee, 
with its wide outlook for the future of the General 



ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 159 

Council and its unifying mission among Lutherans in 
America, gave abundant evidence of these high hopes. 
When Dr. Richter, President of the Iowa Synod, who 
could hardly fail to be impressed with the conservative 
strength and stability of the Council as its mission was 
given so prophetic a forecast in President Schmauk's 
report, re-echoed the sentiments of Professor Proehl, 
hope was added to hope. At the Buffalo Convention in 
1907, when a high confessional note was sounded, which 
called forth from the fraternal visitor, Rev. Carl Proehl, 
son of Professor Proehl, strong sentiments of kinship and 
fellowship, and when at the same meeting, the Iowa 
Synod was given most liberal consideration in the publi- 
cation rights of the Kirchenbuch and Church Book, the 
door of hope was swung still wider open. 

FIFTY YEARS OF FRUITLESS WOOING 
But in the interims between the meetings of the Coun- 
cil little straws showed that the winds were not blowing 
any too favorably in the direction of union, and the 
President's hopes were seasoned with misgivings. In- 
fluences were at work to wean the affections and confi- 
dence of Iowa away from the Council. The Joint Synod 
of Ohio proved to be a rival suitor and its leaders did 
all in their power to instill doubts in the minds of the 
Iowa brethren as to whether the Council could be safely 
entrusted with the guardianship of the faith because of 
much looseness of practice within its bounds. This put 
Dr. Schmauk on the defensive ; for he realized most 
keenly that on the question of safe-guarding the faith by 
a consistent practice spots in the General Council were 
vulnerable. Pulpits and altars were here and there 
thrown wide open ; membership in secret societies and 
organizations where, in the worship, Christ's name was 



160 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

studiously excluded, was not discountenanced as was 
meet, — and unionistic and legalistic tendencies were in 
many quarters only too apparent. In many letters, he 
contends that by the Council's educational rather than 
legalistic methods of counteracting this looseness of 
practice, great progress toward true conservatism had 
been made. On the other hand, he insists that the rigid 
legalistic spirit which would suppress liberalistic tenden- 
cies by discipline rather than by persuasion and educa- 
tion would some day create and foster a rebellion and 
consequent break in those bodies themselves. 

A crucial test of Iowa's loyalty to the Council was the 
meeting of Ohio and Iowa representatives at Toledo in 
February, 1907, to discuss Theses prepared by a Joint 
Committee of the two bodies. In an article intended 
for publication in The Lutheran (but withheld) Dr. 
Schmauk writes as follows : 

These Theses were intended to prepare such points as had 
previously caused a lack of harmony between the two bodies. 
The Iowa Synod accepted the Theses unanimously at its meeting 
in June, 1907; and now the Joint Synod of Ohio has taken the 
following action upon them: 

1. We bring it to attention that the various districts have 
accepted the Toledo Theses by a majority, with the exception of 
one district which could not agree to one point. 

2. On account of the position in which the Synod of Iowa 
stands to the General Council, we are not in a situation to estab- 
lish Church fellowship with the same until we learn officially 
from the Iowa Synod in what relation it stands to the General 
Council. 

3. So far as the erection of opposing altars and friction on 
mission territory are concerned, it has always been our attempt 
to avoid the same, and we shall also continue in this practice in 
the future. 

In explanation, it may be stated that the original Joint Com- 
mittee from both synods had resolved that in case the result of 



ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS 161 

their action were approved by both Synods, pulpit and altar fel- 
lowship should forthwith exist between the Synods ; no opposing 
altars should be erected, but church members moving to any 
particular place should be recommended to the congregation al- 
ready there; and unbrotherly frictions should be avoided on 
the mission field. These resolutions had been adopted by the 
Iowa Synod. 

He then proceeds to relate how it happened that the 
Joint Synod failed to adopt them. Though nearly all 
its district synods, and even President Schuette himself, 
approved them, the latter made fellowship with Iowa 
dependent upon the breaking of fellowship ties between 
Iowa and the Council. This Iowa refused to do, particu- 
larly since it later felt much encouraged with the strong 
confessional note struck at Buffalo in the fall of the 
same year. However, not long thereafter, as the Presi- 
dent's correspondence shows, there was a cooling off of 
the fellowship enthusiasm which had been created at 
Buffalo. There had been some insistence in Iowa that 
the Council should cease all fraternal relations with the 
General Synod. The stronger these relations grew, the 
weaker the other relations seemed to become. Dr. 
Schmauk was fully conscious of this, but maintained that 
the General Council was called into existence to cement 
bonds rather than to weaken or break them, and not a 
few men in the Iowa and Ohio Synods agreed that he 
was right in taking that position provided it could be 
done without sacrifice of principle. 

When the Augustana Synod advocated reorganization 
of the General Council in favor of a larger Federation 
at the Minneapolis and Lancaster Conventions of 1909 
and 1911, and when Dr. Richter at the fiftieth anniver- 
sary of the Augustana Synod in 1910 was very cordially 
welcomed by the latter, which made the impression upon 
L 



162 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

Dr. Schmauk that the interests of these two bodies were 
-being considered as more in harmony than those of the 
Augustana Synod and the Council, it flashed upon his 
mind that a possible coalition between Iowa and Augus- 
tana to weaken the solidarity of the Council and substi- 
tute a federation that would be powerless as a welding 
influence might result. However unfounded his fears 
may have been, he from that time on realized, as others 
also did, that the relations of both bodies with the Gen- 
eral Council hung upon a slender thread. He could have 
become fully reconciled to a separation with both, could 
he have seen a hopeful future for a union of the Luth- 
eran forces on a basis that would actually unite and not 
encourage the perpetuation of particularistic brands of 
Lutheranism. Succeeding events and tendencies were 
but the initial steps that led to the separation of the 
Augustana Synod from the Council and the declaration 
of Iowa's representative at the Council's meeting in 
Philadelphia (when it was decided to enter the Merger), 
"Here our ways do part." 

He felt the full force of that statement. It had a 
sting which pierced him to the quick ; for he loved Iowa, 
had wooed her fourteen years, and was loathe to see 
an intimate fellowship of fifty years brought to an end. 
That was not making Lutheran history to meet the 
pressing needs of the future ; it was unmaking it. . 



CHAPTER XV 

A Trying Convention (1909) 
Dr. Schmauk and the Swedes 

When it comes to the question of directing the affairs of the 
Council, it will be acknowledged that Dr. Schmauk possesses spe- 
cial qualifications that make him an ideal leader. His forceful 
and magnetic personality are on a par with his good nature and 
adaptability, and his readiness to meet trying situations. Also there 
can be no question as to his impartiality and straightforwardness 
in conducting the proceedings. His capacity for work is phe- 
nomenal. Besides being President of the Council, he is pastor of 
a large congregation, professor at Mt. Airy, editor of the 'Church 
Review,' the ablest of its kind in the country. He has wrought out 
a marvelously complete system of Sunday School instruction, and 
published important historic and religious works, one after the other. 
In speech and writing he plants himself firmly upon historic 
Lutheran ground. May he be spared to serve the Church many 
years! — Augustana (after the Rock Island Council in 1915.) 

AM well, but very tired. My worst work is over, 
and I believe I shall get through all right." 
Thus reads a postal card containing a photo- 
graph of the President of the General Council seated in 
an automobile. The snapshot of him was taken on a 
ride with a friend at the meeting of the Council in Min- 
neapolis in 1909. That convention proved to be a very 
strenuous one — and fully as trying on the nerves of 
its president as it was strenuous. The Council had met 
on the territory of the Minnesota Conference of the Au- 
gustana Synod — a conference more or less out of sym- 
pathy with the General Council. Its nestor, Dr. Nore- 
lius, though himself friendly to the Council, was not wide 
of the mark when, some time before, in an article in 



164 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

the Synod's Quarterly, he said : "In our Augustana 
Synod, I must admit, the union with the General Council 
is not appreciated as much as it deserves, and not a few 
perhaps look upon that union as something unfortunate." 

This same article had given the President deep con- 
cern. In it certain practical difficulties were pointed out 
which made the union with the General Council seem 
undesirable to many, chiefly in the Minnesota Confer- 
ence. Among those mentioned were interests which did 
not appeal to the Augustana Synod, such as a General 
Council Seminary at Chicago, or a Publication House 
in Philadelphia, or the Immigrant House at New York; 
or the Church Book Committee's work, which drew its 
treasures from German and not from Swedish sources; 
or the English Home Mission work, which was being 
carried on so vigorously in the Northwest right under the 
shadow of Augustana Synod congregations. 

This article had done much to disturb the President's 
peace of mind, and when the Council met in unfriendly 
territory, he feared for the worst. What added to his 
anxiety were long-drawn-out discussions of subjects in 
which few of the Augustana brethren could have an in- 
terest. Added to this was a disposition of some of the 
eastern members of the Council to welcome the with- 
drawal of the Augustana Synod should it continue to 
manifest dissatisfaction. When, therefore, Dr. Norelius, 
in order to satisfy the disaffected element in the Minne- 
sota Conference, offered a resolution calling upon the 
General Council "to be true to its ecumenical character 
and not seek to assume the functions of a District Synod," 
thus inspiring the fear that synods connected with it 
might lose their identity, the President felt that a crisis 
in the history of the Council had been reached. 



A TRYING CONVENTION 165 

It here became manifest that the Swedish brethren 
looked with suspicion upon any movement that tended 
to obscure what they believed to be the distinctive work 
and mission of their synod. They had their own educa- 
tional and merciful institutions; their own publication 
house, and their own distinctive literature ; they had a 
distinctive home mission field co-extensive with the 
United States and Canada; as their conferences were 
virtually synods, they considered themselves to be worthy 
of a higher status than that of other synods within the 
General Council and to have the character of a general 
body within a larger general body. The only field in 
which they felt free to co-operate was that of Porto 
Rico and Foreign Missions. That, together with par- 
ticipation in the settling of doctrinal and other general 
questions, was the only real connecting link between the 
Augustana and the other synods. To them, the General 
Council from a governmental point of view could be little 
more than a rope of sand. Others in the East, with 
strongly synodical and individualistic sympathies, joined 
them in discouraging what seemed to them to be a tend- 
ency toward centralization. 

At Minneapolis a burning and troublesome question 
was thus sprung upon the General Council, and its Presi- 
dent from that time on was placed between two fires — 
between those who wanted the Council to function sim- 
ply as an advisory body and those who wanted its power 
enhanced as a unifying legislative body, but in a way 
that would alienate Augustana. The marvel is that he 
won the confidence of both parties in his effort to adjust 
differences and keep alive the spirit of harmony. But 
it was a hard and thorny pathway he had to travel. He 
wisely turned the Norelius Resolution over to a com- 



166 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

petent committee to consider it and give answer to it at 
the Lancaster, Pa., Convention in 1911. In a long letter 
to Dr. Horn, a member of this committee, he makes clear 
the bearings of the whole situation in order to guide the 
Committee's deliberations and lead it to a correct conclu- 
sion. He opposed any abridgment of the Council's func- 
tions as an executive body, but believed the Committee 
should make clear that no synod's liberty or autonomy 
is in any wise abridged because other synods feel free 
to unite in common work. This was done by the Com- 
mittee. 

A TEMPORARY RAY OF HOPE 

It had seemed as if the atmosphere had been cleared 
at Lancaster and the Augustana delegates went away evi- 
dently pleased; but the President soon discovered that 
the unrest had not ceased, and writes that he very much 
feared that the Augustana delegates would foment a 
split at the Toledo Convention in 1913. He was led to 
this conclusion because of letters received stating that 
there would be no peace until a separation took place. 
Dr. Frick, the Secretary of the General Council, had 
received a letter from the treasurer of the Augustana 
Synod in which the latter advocated a friendly separa- 
tion and said : "The signs in our Synod at present point 
to a separation." This caused the President fresh pain 
and he writes to Dr. Frick : 

"The ecclesiastical effect would be terrible. It would be the 
confession of the Lutheran Church of its failure and inability to 
remain united. The General Council is the only body that has 
made the attempt to unite the Lutheran nationalities in America. 
If this attempt fails, the situation is hopeless for a long while. 
It makes me sick to think of the way some of our English people 
advocate the Lutheran Church's going into a general Protestant 
unity or federation, and yet neglect the patient and whole-souled 



A TRYING CONVENTION 167 

effort that is necessary to bring our own household into unity 
and order." 

When at the Toledo Convention no movement was 
made by the Augustana delegation to advocate separation 
and an invitation was extended by it to meet at Rock 
Island in 1915, the President spoke in glowing terms 
of the harmonious meeting and regarded the crisis as 
having passed. But he was doomed to sore disappoint- 
ment ; for in the year following, Lutheran Companion 
advocated separation of the Foreign Mission field and 
spoke of the anomalous situation of having a general 
body like the Augustana Synod within another general 
body. The smoldering fires of disaffection were thus 
being fanned into a fresh flame, and as the next conven- 
tion was to be held in Rock Island, the President looked 
forward to it with serious misgiving. He writes to a 
pastor in Toledo : 

The convulsion that is now threatening in the Augustana Synod 
on the question as to whether it shall or shall not separate from 
the General Council, with possible requests for the re-organiza- 
tion of the Council, or with a possible great crisis at Rock Island, 
may render the problems and responsibilities so heavy that I 
may be unable to shoulder them, and may be obliged to resign. 
I hope this will not be the case, as I am not one of the kind that 
is built to desert a ship at the critical moment. But this question 
is a matter which the Lord only knows. 

What induced this state of mind was a resolution, 
passed at the meeting of the Augustana Synod in 1915. 
It had been offered by Dr. Johnson, the president of 
Gustavus Adolphus College, as a substitute for a more 
drastic one advocating separation and the reunion as 
part of a federation, and read as follows: "That the 
Augustana Synod respectfully requests the General 
Council to so alter the constitution of said body that the 



168 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

Augustana Synod no longer be placed in the relation of 
a District Synod, but be recognized as a General Body 
in order that the General Council may become both in 
principle and practice a deliberative and advisory body 
only, so as to facilitate a federation of all the Lutheran 
bodies in our land." 

Later Lutheran Companion had this to say: 

The General Council should be re-organized. At present it is 
composed of local synods and one general body, the Augustana 
Synod, and the relation is anomalous. 

Originally it was a deliberative body only. But the smaller 
bodies were not in a position to take care of their own publica- 
tions, education, missions, and charity work. Hence they re- 
ferred it to the General Council, which took it up and became 
to that extent a legislative body. And as the territories intersect 
and are covered by the Augustana Synod, the result is partly 
hitherto friendly friction and partly lack of interest on our part 
in matters outside of (or inside of) our jurisdiction. Where we 
are not directly concerned we have the feeling that we do not 
wish to intrude, as our only part in these sessions is the un- 
pleasant duty of safeguarding our own interests. A good deal 
of our non-attendance may also be ascribed to this feeling. 

The local synods ought therefore to be organized into a gen- 
eral body, this body together with the Augustana Synod to con- 
stitute the General Council. The General Council, the Synod of 
the South, and other general bodies might then see their way 
clear to unite with us in a deliberative body with a view to ap- 
proaching a united Lutheran Church in America. 

Thus the old question of reorganization, which the 
President hoped had been settled at Lancaster, loomed 
up before him afresh, and in a letter in which he com- 
plains that the English Home Mission Board had not 
acted wisely in the Northwest and was responsible for 
much distrust and ill-feeling, he says: 

This resolution says "so that the General Council may become a 
deliberative and advisory body only" in order to further the unity 



A TRYING CONVENTION 169 

of the Lutheran Church. Now if it were only the matter of 
guaranteeing the rights of the Augustana Synod, as to liturgy, 
mission work, etc., without any attempt on the part of Augustana 
to remove the Council's executive and practical functions, it 
would be all right. 

But they complain of the Chicago Seminary. They complain 
of our Home Mission work. The language of their resolution is 
so sweeping that, if adopted, it would at least legally wipe the 
activities of the General Council off the slate. 

Later he shows a disposition to accede in some meas- 
ure to the wishes of the Swedes and writes: 

So far as I can see, the only way to do is for some of our great 
men to appear at their meetings, to apologize for injuries done 
by little rasping men, and then to fire the imaginations and the 
feelings of the Swedes with the idea of unity; and also probably 
propose a looser unity for them in the General Council, that is, 
let them participate in the things they want to participate in, 
and, say, hold one day's session on these general affairs and then 
let them go home and let the Council transact its specially Ger- 
man and English business without them, and not look to them 
to support this specially German and English business. 

WANTS NO ATLANTIC COAST LUTHERANISM 

When some of the leaders in the East suggested the 
advisability of letting the Augustana Synod drop out of 
the General Council and of drawing together into some 
General Conference the General Synod and the United 
Synod South, he promptly declares himself against the 
idea and says that he wants no "Atlantic Coast Luther- 
anism uniting by itself and leaving the West out in the 
cold." 

As one letter to Dr. Schmauk shows, there was some 
cooling off of affection in the East among even warm 
friends of the Augustana Synod who were loathe to 
see a separation. It reads in part as follows : 



170 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

We must show the Swedes that the freedom of action of the 
Augustana Synod has never been questioned or invaded, but what 
this resolution calls for is a decided abridgment of the liberty 
of joint action on the part of the other synods. 

We do not want the farce of the Lancaster method of dealing 
with the question repeated. Let them blow off their steam and 
invite them to do so. Then if they cannot be shown the pre- 
posterousness of their position, let a peaceable separation take 
place. We do not want any Synod in the General Council whose 
heart is outside of it. 

But the thought of separation was repellent to him. 
In a letter to Dr. Jacobs, dated June 19, 1915, he inclines 
toward the formation of a larger unity in which the 
Augustana Synod might feel at home, though far from 
sure that it can come to realization. He says : 

We cannot reorganize into a merely deliberate body, especially 
not while the General Synod, the Missouri Synod, and the Joint 
Synod of Ohio are becoming more intensively practical bodies, 
nor would such reorganization be conducive to unity, but it would 
further complicate matters. There are other things that can 
perhaps be done. If we can get the General Synod and the Nor- 
wegian Synods into a general deliberative body, this will be a 
real step toward unity. But the Augustana way is not the way 
to begin such an effort. 

He went even so far as to suggest the following ad- 
dition to the General Council's Constitution, which, how- 
ever, was not submitted for consideration: 

Article I. Section 5. General Bodies within the General Coun- 
cil shall themselves have the full powers and duties enumerated 
in the preceding four sections, and shall not on these points be 
amenable to the General Council, except in departments where 
they in fact or by resolution have established co-operation with 
the General Council. The General Council shall divide its busi- 
ness into two parts, namely, one part in which General Bodies 
co-operate with the District Synods, in which part all bodies 
have a voice and vote as prescribed by this constitution; and 



A TRYING CONVENTION 171 

another part in which the General Bodies do not desire to co- 
operate and in which only the District Synods co-operate with 
their voice and vote. General Btodies may at any time become 
members of the General Council in the regular way, and with 
their autonomy duly preserved, and in accordance with the pro- 
visions of this Section. 

THE FEDERATION MOVEMENT 

When a "Federation of Lutheran Synods" at the sug- 
gestion of the Joint Synod of Ohio, was proposed in 
1915, he at first favored it as furnishing a possible solu- 
tion to the Augustana Synod difficulty. But when it ap- 
peared that presidents of synods within the General 
Council were invited and the General Council as a single 
unity was not recognized, he immediately refused to co- 
operate. He, however, drew up a series of propositions 
which would broaden the scope of the General Council 
and enable it to function as a larger unity, with the 
Swedes, the Germans, and the English-Germans as three 
constituent parts of the general body, each with its dis- 
tinctive work independently carried on and with only 
such activities in common as they should mutually agree 
to enter into. Then other Lutheran bodies should be 
invited under similar conditions, thus forming a new 
and enlarged federated alliance, looking toward ultimate 
union. As later events proved, he regarded such federa- 
tion as a temporary makeshift and finally came to the 
conviction that it would do more to perpetuate national- 
istic and other peculiarities than to eliminate them. 

THE BEGINNING OF THE END 

This agitation from 1909 to 1915 proved to be but 
the beginning of the end. Had not the love and confi- 
dence of the Augustana brethren in the President of 
the General Council been so strong, a separation would 



172 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

have taken place ere the year 1917. He was frequently 
invited to participate in important celebrations in the 
Augustana Synod, but his frequent illnesses and his 
aversion to travel, forbade him to make more than very 
few engagements. At its Golden Jubilee in 1910, he de- 
livered an address on "Ancient Ideals of Education from 
a Modern Point of View" at the college in Rock Island, 
and made a profound impression. It was there that he 
was honored with the title of LL.D. by the institution. 
This mutual attachment did much to prevent the break, 
and the Augustana delegates could always be counted 
on to vote for his continuance in the presidential office. 

When in 1917, the laymen of the Quadricentennial 
Committee, of which Dr. Schmauk was chairman, pro- 
posed signalizing the four-hundredth birthday of the 
Reformation by uniting the Lutheran forces in this coun- 
try, as far as would be possible, it soon became apparent 
that the beginning of the end had come. Dissenters in the 
Augustana Synod felt that now the opportune moment 
had arrived to revive the federation idea, and at a meet- 
ing in Minneapolis made a proposition looking toward 
the attainment of that end. But the President's long 
experience with a loosely organized body made him more 
and more opposed to a federation. He saw in it the 
embodiment of all the elements of weakness with which 
he was forced to contend during his long administration 
and believed it would retard rather than accelerate the 
process of a real inner "life together." 

It would be interesting to give the full inner story 
of his efforts to prevent the impending breach, but it 
would lead us too far afield. When in 1918, after re- 
peated assurances to the President of the General Coun- 
cil from leaders in the Augustana Synod that there would 



A TRYING CONVENTION 173 

be no separation, action was taken by that body to sever 
its connection with the General Council, the expected 
at last took place. Dr. Schmauk had suffered much dur- 
ing the trying years since the Minneapolis Council. He 
felt that a bond formed in 1867, with such leaders as 
Esbjorn, Hasselquist, Erland Carlsson and Norelius to 
conjure with, could not be broken without serious loss 
to the cause of unity in the American Lutheran Church. 
His hopes for a greater and more thoroughly united 
General Council, of which the Buffalo Convention in 1907 
was to be the prophecy, were thus rudely shattered, and 
the first experiment to bring to unity several racial Luth- 
eran strands in America was brought to an untimely end. 
His faith in the General Council's mission had been un- 
bounded and his heart's devotion to it made the sacrifice 
of time and energy and health in its behalf seem trivial. 
After fifteen years of unsparing service as its president, 
a rent in the General Council inflicted a wound upon him 
which even the new and larger union into which the 
Council entered in 1918 could not heal. In a letter 
dated June 18, 1918, to Dr. Abrahamson of the Augus- 
tana Synod, a strong supporter of the union, he writes 
what may be considered his valedictory, as follows: 

We shall indeed greatly miss our Augustana brethren whom 
we have learned to labor with and to love. Certain seats will 
always look empty at every convention. I believe it is a com- 
bination of different feelings and forces that produced this re- 
sult in your Synod. 

The lack of correlation between Augustana as a national body 
and the General Council as a national body seems to me to be 
the unnecessary emphasis of a theory. Of course there are diffi- 
culties, but with patience they could have been adjusted. 

There are many illogical realities in life that go on and suc- 
ceed very well indeed. And the worst of it is that these men 
will not get rid of their difficulties by the remedy they propose, 



174 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

viz., a Federation. There would be the same national bodies 
paralleling and overlapping each other. And in a Federation we 
only get close enough together to learn to stand on our own 
rights and dislike each other; and not close enough together to 
learn to love each other and labor together. 

So far as the mission frictions are concerned, the opponents of 
the General Council have surely not improved the Augustana 
situation. To me, from an ecclesiastical point of view, the chief 
disappointment is that the Lutheran faith here in America, where 
it has had its largest opportunity, has not proven itself large 
enough to be universal; but other considerations, whatever they 
may be, have proven themselves superior, and have risen once 
again to separate and divide. 

This is the great lesson, viz., the failure of our American 
Church to demonstrate the universalism, the catholicity, and the 
inherent power of our faith, when, for the first time in centuries, 
it had opportunity to do so. This is the submerging feature in 
the failure of the underlying principle that moved the fathers to 
form the General Council. They would shed tears today at this 
result. 

And it is this which fills my heart with sorrow. I have had 
no personal desires to accomplish in the presidency of the Gen- 
eral Council, but it has been my deep and steady wish to prove 
the proposition of our fathers, viz., that the Lutheran faith is a 
catholic faith, and that if given proper opportunity, it will show 
its inherent unity in its outer works, will show that faith is cap- 
able of uniting human hearts in a better way than does the ex- 
ternal ecclesiasticism of Rome; and that divisions and separatism 
are not an inevitable consequence of the Protestant Reformation. 

I am not one of those who have pressed for immediate union 
for the United Lutheran Church. I would rather have had it 
grow a little more slowly. But when the situation was forced 
upon us to decide, and we had to choose the one or the other, in 
view of the great events in which we are living, I felt that Provi- 
dence wanted us to act now. I am confident that you took the 
same broad view. 

CO-OPERATION WITH THE GENERAL SYNOD 

The course of Lutheran ecclesiastical love never did 
run smooth. As President of the General Council, Dr. 



A TRYING CONVENTION 175 

Schmauk was in a position to realize the full force of 
this truth. Ever since his endeavor at the meeting of 
the General Synod in Dubuque, la., in 1901, where as 
delegate he secured favorable action for the appointment 
of a joint "Committee on Practical Co-operation," he 
became deeply interested in establishing friendly rela- 
tions between the two bodies. He never allowed himself 
to believe that it was for the best interests of the Luth- 
eran Church in America to adopt a policy of aloofness 
toward the General Synod. On the other hand, he was 
just as determined that co-operation should not be pur- 
chased at the expense of the General Council's position 
on questions involving the confessional principle and a 
practice accordant therewith. 

His letters to such friends in the General Synod as 
Drs. Bauslin, Keyser, Dunbar, Hamma and others were 
of a most cordial and intimate character. He was frank 
in pointing out to them the hindrances in the way of a 
closer affiliation between the two bodies, particularly 
when the question of adjusting the well-known mission 
difficulty which troubled both bodies from 1907 to 1915 
was thrust upon him. Now that the two bodies have 
been united, it is not necessary to go into detail ; but 
through this whole period, when co-operation in missions 
and Sunday School literature was carried on with more 
or less difficulty, he never lost faith in an ultimate har- 
monious solution, and bent all his energies toward that 
end. 

But the main issue he was striving to meet was the 
doctrinal one. In an interesting letter to Dr. Keyser, 
after the Buffalo Convention in 1907, he speaks of the 
mischief Profs. Richard and Evgen are doing in foment- 
ing trouble between the bodies on the Confessional ques- 



176 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

tion, while he also laments the unwise utterances of Dr. 
Nicum on the General Council side. He then proceeds 
to show in quite graphic fashion how it happens that 
Lutherans do not get together as they should. He finds 
the seat of the difficulty in two extreme tendencies — a 
rigid, strait-laced Lutheranism outside of both General 
Council and General Synod, and a radical and liberal 
Lutheranism within the General Synod. Two incidents 
occurred which make it necessary to mention the name 
of Prof. Dr. Richard, whose attitude toward the Gen- 
eral Council was known to be unfriendly. He was a 
scholar of no mean attainments, but his native inclination 
to be polemical made the pathway toward unity between 
the two bodies difficult. At a meeting of Philadelphia 
pastors of both bodies to discuss the confessional ques- 
tion, he managed to be present and made the statement 
that "rather than subscribe to the Formula of Concord, 
he would have his arm burned off at the stake." Another 
was an attempt of his to sow discord between the General 
Council and the "General Lutheran Conference" (Alge- 
meine Konferenz). Dr. Schmauk therefore puts the situ- 
ation in the Lutheran Church to Dr. Keyser as follows : 

As to Lutheranism in this land, I believe it divides about 
as follows : 

1. A iself -complete ecclesiastical Lutheranism — with large 
foreign admixture. [Lutherans who keep aloof from both Coun- 
cil and Synod.] 

2. A complete Confessional Lutheranism — with elements 
American and foreign. [Lutherans of the General Council.] 

3. A Lutheranism of fundamental r/rinciple — American. 
[Conservatives in the General Synod.] 

4. A nominal and accommodative and liberal Lutheranism — 
American and unstable. [Radicals in the General Synod.] 

It is 1 and 4 that make the trouble. It is 2 and 3 that suffer. 
2 and 3 do not overlap any more than do 3 and 4. But 2 and 3 



A TRYING CONVENTION 177 

very often agree on square and hearty principle. There are seri- 
ous points of difference of principle, especia/lly on inference; 
but they are capable of being fair to each other and of respect- 
ing differences of principle. 3 and 4 do not belong together any 
more than 2 and 3, if as much. Yet they are tied together. This, 
with the really deeper unities between 2 and 3, which are so 
exasperating to 4, keeps 4 continually worked up into fury and 
lashing the waters. 

Neither 2 nor 3 are by nature the aggressor ; but either 1 or 4 
manages to keep 2 and 3 almost continuously in hot water. 
2 has been in hot water, boiled on the hot stove of 1, ever since 
she was a little babe, and accepts periodic scalding from it. She 
has also been receiving many a scalding from 4, but since 4 
has of late years been setting up to be the essence of real Luth- 
eranism, and has been assuming that she is 3 and 4, 2 has 
turned to 3, and has said, "What are you, my dear one? Tell 
us now. Are you 4? If so, you are certainly not 3, and still 
less are you 2. If you are really 3, then be so, even if it be 
necessary to loosen yourself from 4. We do not ask you to 
be 2, though we should indeed be very glad to have you, but we 
respect your principle. But we do ask you to be yoursdf, — else 
how can we deal with you? When we supposed that we were 
embracing you, lo and behold, our arm has gotten around 4, and 
the result was not consolation, but castigation. Now no maiden 
can expect to win a friend if, being 3, 'her suitor does not know 
whether it really is 3 or whether it is 4. Though the voice be 
the voice of Jacob, the hand after all turns out to be the hand 
of Esau." 

It seems to me that this is the situation in a nut shell, that 
it is the nature of the case, and that alongside of it, the Formula 
of Concord issue, while it touches to the root in a way, is not 
the real sum and substance of the thing. But the Formula of 
Concord issue, being raised by 4, (please note it was raised by 4, 
and not 'by 2), and raised so sneeringly and offensively, that 4 
declared she would rather have her arm burnt off at the stake 
than ever accept the Formula as a test of Lutheranism, 2 could 
not do otherwise than take the issue as 4 tauntingly pressed it 
upon her. 

Why is it, that a man like Dr. Jacobs, mild-mannered, gentle- 
manly, forgiving and conciliatory, one who has always worked 
M 



178 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

for peace, and one who has led in the effort to draw 2 and 3 
together, would draw up such Theses as you heard at Buffalo? 
Those Theses did not come from the Germans. Neither were 
they a matter of aggrieved personality, but a matter of convic- 
tion. There is a situation here, which has simply been forced 
upon 2, one might say, in a most brutal way. I doubt whether 
conservative men outside of Eastern Pennsylvania realize what 
that situation has been, and how much some of us have done 
to try to avert it. It has been impossible. We have been obliged 
to meet 4. For years 3 has told us that 4 was nothing, and 
should not be considered, and we believe they believe it. But 
we have found by most sad experience that it is otherwise. 
4 insists on being met. Hence Buffalo. We cannot ask 3 to 
manage 4, for 4 does not want to be managed and will not be 
managed. Neither can we ask 3 to separate from 4, for 3 loves 
4; — and that is none of our business. Therefore we (by we, I 
mean 2, and not a few men of whom I am one personally ; for 
I am giving my explanation of a general situation) did the only 
thing that was left. 

The best solution that I see, is the one that the Lord has 
evidently not yet given His consent to, that is, for 2 and 3 to 
bind 4 hand and foot. 3 is now engaged in an effort to sew 
the mouth of 4 shut, for which I am exceedingly thankful; but 
I believe that the nature of 4's jaw is of such a character that 
even the most approved and thorough wire-stitching will not 
be able to keep its roar from being heard. 

This letter makes clear the difficulties that lay in the 
pathway of the union that was later consummated at New 
York. It is a frank and true statement of a situation 
that for years stood in the way of a closer affiliation and 
union among Lutherans, and its spirit will not be mis- 
interpreted. 



CHAPTER XVI 

'The Confessional Principle" (1907-1911) 

Dr. Schmauk as Seminary Professor 

"Doctrine i<s intellectual and spiritual bone. It is principle. 
Better have a dozen diverse living species, each separately ribbed 
and tempered, than amalgamate them all by removing the bones 
and boiling them down together into one great cake of sheep meat 
jelly. A church without distinctive doctrinal principle is a verte- 
brate without vertebrae."— Schmauk. 

THE many-times President of the General Coun- 
cil had pitched his confessional song at 
Buffalo in a high key. Could he keep 
the Council true to that pitch? There followed 
much rejoicing because of the strong confessional 
note that had been struck. Letters of approval 
came from the Iowa Synod and created fresh hope that 
union with the General Council might result. Dr. Stell- 
horn, of the Joint Synod of Ohio, who had been in cor- 
respondence with Dr. Schmauk several years before and 
who entertained high hopes of the leading part the latter 
was destined to take to keep the General Council true to 
its confessional position, now expressed his joy at what 
had transpired at Buffalo. Others from outside the Gen- 
eral Council wrote to him in a similar vein. 

But after the enthusiasm had more or less subsided, 
Dr. Schmauk felt that the influence of that convention 
would be transient if it were not followed up with a more 
thorough discussion of the confessional principles that had 
there found expression. With the passing away of so 
many pillars who were in fullest sympathy with those 
principles, he feared a weakening of the confessional 
consciousness if something were not done to strengthen 



180 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

it and keep it alive. There were indications on many sides 
that his fears were well founded. Hence, in the follow- 
ing year, as early as May 7th, we read in his diary, 
"Worked on Book." Later this item appears again and 
again. On September 9, 1910, we read, "Proofs of 
Confessional Principle, " and on March 21, 1911, the 
words, "Confessional Index," appear. 

This volume of 962 pages had been completed some 
time earlier, when the book of Dr. Richard of Gettysburg 
entitled "The Confessional History of the Lutheran 
Church" appeared. He found so many misleading and 
harmful statements in this book that, after an immense 
amount of painstaking research, he prepared an "Histori- 
cal Introduction" in which the real facts connected with 
the history of the Augsburg Confession are brought out 
in such remarkably complete detail and accuracy as to 
be almost the last word on the subject. It was a con- 
vincing refutation of the positions taken in the "Confes- 
sional History" of Professor Dr. Richard. The theme 
of the Book may be stated in his own words in the pre- 
face: "Absolute dependence on the Word, that is, on 
the Holy Spirit in the Word, in the Church, has resulted 
in the Evangelical Lutheran Confession." In the prepara- 
tion of this work, he was assisted by Dr. C. T. Benze, 
who spent many days at Lebanon translating from Kolde 
and other important authors that proved serviceable. It 
called forth commendations from many quarters. On June 
25, 1911, Dr. Jacobs wrote him the following brief letter: 

I have just finished a rapid examination of your book. I wanted 
to form an impression of it as a whole, before entering into 
the closer examination of details. It has held me fast all day, 
except when in church, and for two brief breathing spells. 
I have read enough to lead me without waiting longer to express 



THE CONFESSIONAL PRINCIPLE 181 

my intense delight and most isincere gratitude. You have pro- 
duced an epoch-making book. Not only will it live, but its in- 
fluence may be more far-reaching than anything that has as 
yet appeared in the English language within our Church. You 
have not left the least shred of an argument against the Con- 
fessional position unanswered. I am astonished at your patience 
in pursuing your opponent with the consideration of the most 
minute details on side questions, when you might have been con- 
tent with your triumphant overthrow of the main argument. 

Dr. Jacobs was inspired to write a series of nine long 
articles for The Lutheran touching on many questions 
suggested by this book. Others felt that a great defender 
of the faith had arisen. A Philadelphia lawyer (G. E. 
Schlegelmilch) wrote him a long letter in which he stated 
that he had never known what it was to be a Lutheran 
until he had read this book, and he hoped that many other 
laymen would also read it. More than one, including Dr. 
Jacobs, at once linked the author with Dr. Krauth. One 
letter that came to him expresses the general sentiment 
of all, a part of which reads thus : 

Dr. Jacobs voices my conviction when he virtually says that 
you have taken a long step in advance of Krauth and given us a 
message that goes to the heart of things even more than did his. 
You have brought Krauth up to date. Your book has given me 
fresh hope and inspiration. You have brought your great argu- 
ment home to the Twentieth Century. 

DR. SCHMAUK AS SEMINARY PROFESSOR 

"Apologetics is on a lower plane than Dogmatics, inasmuch 
as the intellect is below faith in the Christian's life." — "Science 
is our hold on nature; religion our hold on God. The object of 
science is to perceive the laivs underlying the complexities of 
natural phenomena; the object of religion is to' supply the longing 
of the soul for communion and kinship with the Final Source 
of life, love, goodness and truth — God." 

"Since ethics deals with the right conduct of life, its standard 
must necessarily be the perfection of life; and to us Christians 



182 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

it has been set forth in the living personality of our Saviour. 
Life can only be measured and interpreted by life. Hence even 
if the Scriptures were a Book of Laws, which they are not, they 
could not be expected to contain an ultimate standard of ethics. 
Our absolute standard of perfect life is found in the life and 
character of God, and He has been revealed to us in His Only 
Begotten Son, full of grace and truth." — Schmauk. 

When, in 1910, Dr. Jacobs had urged Dr. Schmauk to 
consent to being nominated as professor, the latter in a 
lengthy letter gave reasons why he felt that he could be 
of greater service to the Seminary if he remained presi- 
dent of the Board. A few quotations will make his posi- 
tion clear: 

I really believe, and this is a matter of judgment as well as 
of inclination, that I can be of more service constructively to the 
Seminary and to the Church by remaining on the Board of 
Directors, and by standing in the broader fields of church activity, 
than by concentrating all my energy as a specialist in a particular 
department of investigation and teaching. 

I love literary work and teaching, and I do not care for ad- 
ministrative work or for business; but I do not believe it to be 
possible, if I should become a teacher, for me to continue bearing 
the more general constructive burdens of the Church ; and if I feel 
anxiety, it is really more respecting these, than respecting any 
one department in the Seminary. 

As I look at it the upbuilding work in our Board has just 
begun, and there is much hill climbing to be done quietly and 
conservatively, but steadily, still before us. 

Further, we are standing on the very brink of a change from 
the old to the new, and from the young to the old; and I believe 
that I can probably be of more service to the institution in en- 
couraging growth and preventing revolution, on the Board, than 
if I were pinned down to a department in the Faculty. 

Still further, it would be a very difficult thing for me to give 
up the preaching office and pastoral work. I have my father's 
life as a minister before me, and it is a source of comfort and 
safety to me where I can follow in his footsteps. There are 



SEMINARY PROFESSOR 183 

many specific reasons that would enter into the statements made 
above, and which it is not necessary to allude to now, as I do not 
in my heart believe that I shall be required to meet this crisis. 

I might probably be willing, if the Church thought so, to enter 
into some special technical course on a lectureship and teaching 
basis, with limited hours, and which would be understood to be 
of a temporary nature, until the Church were more able to fill 
its needs. But I am not looking to this, or even considering it. 
And, so far as I can see now, it would only be to prevent another 
from entering the institution, whom I would regard as a great 
mistake, or if the Church would insist, and would convince me 
that I am doing wrong, which I do not believe it will be able to 
do, that I would think of becoming a professor. 

In his diary of date May 19, 1911, are written the 
words : "Accepted call to professorship — to serve one 
year gratuitously — expenses to be paid by the Board." 
Dr. Schmauk was elected Professor at the Seminary at a 
Special Session of the Ministerium, held in St. Mark's 
Church, Philadelphia, Feb. 14, 1911. The chair to which 
he was elected was that of "The Confession and Defence 
of the Christian Faith," a new chair, provided for in the 
report presented to the Ministerium at this Special Ses- 
sion by the Board. 

This added one more heavy responsibility to the many 
others he was already assuming. It had been hoped that 
he would resign as pastor at Lebanon and lay aside nu- 
merous other offices and duties he was discharging, and 
devote himself more or less exclusively to this new task. 
At this time he was serving as President of the General 
Council, President of the Board of Directors of the Semi- 
nary, Trustee of Muhlenberg College and Chairman of 
its Committee on Degrees, Editor of the Review, Liter - 
ary Editor of The Lutheran, Editor of Lutheran Graded 
Sunday School Lesson Series, Chairman of Executive 
Committee of the Pennsylvania German Society, Member 



184 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

of Church Book Committee, and several other regular 
appointments that made drains upon his time and energy. 

But the friends who had urged him to limit himself 
were mistaken. When once he had firmly taken hold of 
a task, acquainted himself with its problems, and planned 
for the furtherance of the interests that were involved 
in it, he was not the man to let go. What he began must 
be consummated before he would be willing to relinquish 
any responsibility he had assumed, and as he never saw 
the end of the task to which he was committed, he held on. 

Being deeply concerned in the carrying out of the 
Seminary's plans for progress and expansion, he remained 
its President and declined a full professorship. 

He was not content to be a mere figurehead in any 
office he assumed, and he kept his hand on the Seminary's 
affairs down to the minutest details. He had an intelli- 
gent grasp of the business end of the administration and 
always came to the Board meetings well prepared with 
a complete outline of matters to be discussed and finally 
settled. He had well-matured ideas as to the conduct 
of the Library and took a hand in revising and reorgan- 
izing methods that proved to be no longer adequate. He 
was equally interested in a revision of the courses offered 
at the Seminary and of improved methods of teaching, 
particularly after the Schieren Professorship had been 
established. 

So then, as Dr. Jacobs says (Lutheran Church Review, July, 
1920), for nine years, at great sacrifice of time and labor, and 
at imminent risk to health and life, the two-fold Seminary burden 
of President of the Board of Directors and temporary incumbent 
of what amounted to a full professorship devolved upon him, in 
addition to his pastorate and his duties as chief administrator 
of almost numberless important Church responsibilities. So heavy 
and constant was the strain that no one man could be expected 



SEMINARY PROFESSOR 185 

to bear it long. For he carried no duty lightly; not only were 
all details of each of his several avocations mastered, but this 
was done also with great expense of feeling. Every problem to 
be solved brought its peculiar anxieties. He was no transient 
visitor to these grounds, performing a certain round of duties 
perfunctorily, scarcely learning the names of students, and then 
hastening away to forget the Seminary amidst other occupations 
until the next week arrived. Much that was on his mind he 
would not wait to discuss until his next visit, but would com- 
municate in frequent and often long letters. Absence from fac- 
ulty meetings was very rare. He claimed his share and took 
his turn in almost all the extra duties his associates voluntarily 
assumed. Students he learned to know not only in the class 
room, but in close personal contact, in which he dealt with them 
as an elder brother, sympathizing with their perplexities and 
sharing even in their merriment. For their instruction, he was 
ever projecting what was fresh and new and could be of the 
most practical use. He was always collecting new material and 
making new studies of the students to whom he was to impart 
what he gathered. 

Dr. Schmauk knew full well that the customary method 
of teaching Apologetics failed in large measure to lead 
to positive, constructive results, and he preferred to desig- 
nate the position he was to occupy as teacher, as the 
"Chair of the Christian Faith." Dealing with mere nega- 
tions and skeptical argumentations had little attraction 
for him. He believed in planting himself firmly on the 
solid vantage ground of faith and making that the start- 
ing point from which to venture forth to meet the foe. 
How he interpreted his task is set forth in the Seminary 
Catalogue of 1916 as follows: 

Apologetics has usually been regarded as the scientific defense 
of Christianity against any and all attacks. Its aim, too often, 
has not been investigation, but vindication. Instead of seeking 
patiently after the truth, and setting forth the results impartially, 
it has sought to overturn antagonists. This has been done by a 



186 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

priori arguments and a summation of facts that are now a relic 
of a bygone age. A broader and more constructive view of 
the work of this department is to set forth the ultimate principles 
of Christianity in their inner relations to each other and to the 
problems of the human mind, as these have been developed his- 
torically, and thus afford the student an adequate basis and the 
materials for making up his mind and arriving at conviction on 
points of doubt and difficulty. The intellectual side of Christian- 
ity becomes scientific rather than militant. Christianity unfolds 
its own inner strength, and begets its own conviction in the mind. 
A positive and structural attitude, confident of the inherent rea- 
sonableness of Christianity, so far as the intellect is able to com- 
prehend it, takes the place of a mere defence. The need of the 
age is an insight into the inherent nature of Christianity, a search 
for, and an organic maintenance of its own inner value, a build- 
ing up of its own intellectual foundation, in their relation to 
modern issues. Hence the Department is regarded positively, 
as one of construction and maintenance. 

As was to be expected, piles of material in the form 
of lectures on this subject covering an immense field of 
thought and fact, were gathered which with some revision 
could easily be transformed into books. When, upon the 
death of Dr. Horn, the subject of Ethics was assigned to 
him, he launched into another boundless field of study 
and investigation, and soon had enough material assorted 
and arranged for several more books. 

The writer requested Prof. Emil E. Fischer, D.D., 
his successor, to furnish an outline of the subjects Dr. 
Schmauk felt called upon to teach. The reader will be 
struck with the richness and vastness of the field he at- 
tempted to cover, and with the peculiarity of his method, 
which was intended to enlarge the student's vision, to 
strengthen conviction, to broaden the scope of interest 
and to make lasting impressions rather than to impart 
mere knowledge on the basis of which the student could 
be examined. 



SEMINARY PROFESSOR 187 

The following courses, including elective and degree 
courses, were offered by Dr. Schmauk during the years 
that he spent at the Seminary: 

The Christian Principle in Modern History. 

History of Thought, Ancient and Modern, in Its Relation to 
Christianity. 

Modern Criticism and its Application to Various Parts of the 
Old Testament Field. 

Principles of the General Council and Their Application to the 
Local Congregation and to Various Contemporary Tendencies 
and Movements. 

The Critical History of Unbelief in Modern Thinking, with 
Special Reference to the 19th Century Developments in Philosophy, 
and Science, and to 20th Century Problems. 

Grounds for Belief in Christianity. 

Philosophical Arguments for a Divine Being. 

The Psychology of Our Lord's Life. 

The Significance of the Philosophy of the Closing Part of 
Our Lord's Life for Apologetics. 

Christianity and Current Schools of Non-Christian Thought. 



Theory of Christian Education. 

The Problems of the Church in Education and Christian 
Training. 

The Art of Teaching and of Christian Training. 

The General Council Graded Sunday School System, Sunday 
School Teaching and Management. 

The Training of Children, A Comparative Study of Biological, 
Moral, Legal and Christian Principles. 



Source Collections of Lutheran History in America. 
The Origin, Faith and Organization of Lutheranism in Amer- 
ica ; The Constitution of the United Lutheran Church in America. 
Present Problems in the Lutheran Church. 



Ethics of the Individual Christian Life. 

Ethics of Government, Ethics of Nations, of War, of Diplo- 
macy and Social Ethics. 



188 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

The Ethical Teachings of Jesus. 

Analysis of the Growing Group. Consciousness in Social Life: 
What Will be Its Influence on the Church? 

Problems in Social Ethics : Poverty, Its Problems and Causes ; 
Wealth and Its Distribution. 

The Ethics of the Sermon on the Mount. 

Ethical Elements in Luther's Early Tractates. 

METHODS OF TEACHING 

As in everything else, Dr. Schmauk was unique in his 
method of teaching. His method is very fully described 
by one of his students, now the Rev. Arthur H. Getz, 
who for some time acted as his secretary and steno- 
grapher. He expresses at length what other students have 
more briefly said and written. We quote from him as 
follows : 

No phase of Doctor Schmauk's multifarious activities was 
closer to his heart than that of instructing his -students at the 
Philadelphia Theological Seminary. He carefully and consci- 
entiously prepared for every hour with his classes. Though 
sometimes tired after wearisome committee meetings, and fa- 
tigued from traveling and lack of sleep, his buoyant spirit was 
revived the moment he entered the class-room and came into 
contact with his students. Who among his students can ever for- 
get his hearty, cheery, sincere greeting as he entered his class- 
room and said: "Good morning, boys. How are you this 
morning?" Every word of that greeting spoke of interest 
in every individual member of the class. A few addi- 
tional remarks, perhaps upon the weather, perhaps upon 
some event in the life of the student body, perhaps 
upon some event recorded in the morning newspaper, served to 
arouse the attention of all present, and in every case served to 
lead directly to the subject under consideration. A moment or 
two was spent in recalling to mind the subject last discussed and 
in connecting it with the subject next to be discussed, and then 
the work of the hour had begun. 

No one method of instruction was used to the exclusion of 
all others. Sometimes he employed the question and answer 



SEMINARY PROFESSOR 189 

method ; then he encouraged a free discussion ; and often he 
lectured. Frequent reference was made to the natural phe- 
nomena, to the things familiar to the men in their every day life, 
to the trials and experiences with which all were familiar, and 
to the bonds which were dear to all. The intellect and mind, 
the heart and emotions, the fears, the doubts, the hopes, the mis- 
givings, the joys, the sorrows were all appealed to as occasion 
warranted, in impressing upon students eternal truths. 

For the thoughtful student Doctor Schmauk was the ideal 
teacher, and every hour seemed like a model class in pedagogy. 
He was always dignified in the class-room, and yet ever willing 
to come down to the level of the most humble student. Form for 
form's sake was annoying to him, but form for the sake of 
decency and order was an absolute requisite in his class-room. 
He never sought to impress the dignity of his position as a 
member of the faculty and as President of the Board of Direc- 
tors of the Seminary upon his students, but loved to assume the 
role of "Older brother." Nothing pleased him more than to see 
the whole class gather close to him, under his very eyes, so that 
he could speak to them out of the fullness of his heart. No 
interest of the class or of any member of the class was foreign 
to him, and the most trivial question was answered with an 
earnestness worthy of the most weighty philosophical problem. 

The most difficult subjects to teach in a Seminary curriculum 
are perhaps Ethics and Apologetics. For not only must cer- 
tain fundamental truths be discovered, and certain immutable 
laws adhered to, but these truths and laws must then be illus- 
trated from life so that the principles may be indelibly stamped 
upon the minds of the students. And frequently, due to the 
intensely practical nature of these subjects, there is room for 
diversity of opinion when the rules are to be applied to indi- 
vidual cases. Hence there is a double danger which the pro- 
fessor of these subjects must avoid: the danger of merely lectur- 
ing without allowing a discussion by the class, which would both 
clarify and deepen the impression; and the danger of allowing 
the discussion to over-emphasize minute points at the expense of 
the larger issues, and thus lead into by-paths. In order to avoid 
this double difficulty Doctor Schmauk closely followed a care- 
fully prepared manuscript. At times he would read word for 
word what he had written, but his reading was so eloquent that 



190 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

it never became wearisome to the class. At other times he used 
a very full outline as the basis of his lectures. But whether 
the lecture was delivered from outline or from manuscript, the 
style was brilliant, sparkling, scintillating, fascinating, and he 
who had an ear for rhythmical sentences, an appreciation for 
figurative language, a mind for philosophical thought, could not 
help being thrilled by the words which fell from the lips of 
this master teacher. 

The person who is not intimately acquainted with the method 
which Doctor Schmauk used will wonder if his lectures were al- 
ways appropriate, for lectures read from manuscript, especially 
if years have passed since the manuscript was prepared, do not 
always present the most timely illustrations. However, in this 
case, the illustrations and the timeliness of every part of the 
lecture was one of the great sources of power. And this was 
due to the manner of preparation for lectures which the Doctor 
employed. At the beginning of the year a careful outline was 
prepared of the subjects to be treated in the course, with head- 
ings, divisions, sub-divisions, and sub-sub-divisions. This outline 
might be digressed from in the course of the year, due to ques- 
tions brought up by the class ; but it was never forgotten, and 
sooner or later there was a return to it. The outline was pre- 
pared at the beginning of the course, after an immense amount 
of reading which had been thoroughly digested, but the manu- 
script itself was written within a very short time before the 
lecture was delivered, often the very night before. This assured 
timely illustrations, harmony of thought and plan, and such 
brevity and conciseness that every word of the lecture counted. 
It is this careful preparation, almost immediately preceding the 
lecture, that accounts for the wonderful epigrammatic style used 
in the class-room. 

The student was at liberty to interrupt at any point of the 
lecture in order to ask a question. Such questions were always 
answered with a fullness of thought and knowledge that was 
astounding, with a suavity that was admirable, and with an 
earnestness of purpose that was truly inspiring. If a question 
required such detailed or minute information that on the spur 
of the moment he could not be certain of the answer, he frankly 
stated so, giving what he thought was the solution, and prom- 
ising to verify it before the next class, and in no case did he 



SEMINARY PROFESSOR 191 

forget to give fuller information at the next meeting. He also 
made a mental note of all questions asked, and after class analyzed 
them, trying to find out what in the previous training or experi- 
ence of the man led him to ask the question. And if he discov- 
ered the least trace of anything that might prove dangerous to 
the man's thought, such as the influence of radicalism, he would 
again refer to the question at the beginning of the next meeting 
and clear up all difficulties. In order that he might do this 
the better he tried to learn what books the men were reading, 
and if there were any he was unfamiliar with, no matter what 
their character, he would secure them and give them his careful 
attention. Thus he maintained a firm hold upon students, and 
by his broad-minded discussion of the problems they were think- 
ing about, held their love and won their admiration. 

The information imparted to students in the class-room was 
valuable, and yet if all this information were forgotten, if every 
last fact related were blotted from the memory of those who 
sat at the feet of this esteemed teacher, the hours spent with him 
would yet be of lasting value, for his unshakable conviction of 
the truth of Christianity of very necessity strengthened the faith 
of all who knew him. His lectures were full of personal testi- 
mony, and which of his students will ever forget the impression 
made by the illustration of the blind man in John and the quot- 
ing of the words : "This I know ; whereas before I was blind, 
now I see"? By the inspiration of Doctor Schmauk's faith, doubts 
were removed, new strength imparted, fresh courage imbibed ; 
for to him the Gospel of the Scriptures were in very deed "the 
power of God unto salvation." 



CHAPTER XVII 

The Quadri- Centennial Celebration of the 
Reformation (1917-1920) 

"Faithful common action and common service come out from a 
common faith. Union is really a matter of vital growth from 
within outwards, and cannot be hurried by casting away convic- 
tions. God brought men to America to unite. But, sir, it is to be 
by growth and breeding. It is to be by purifying the blood, not 
by removing the bone. Meanwhile, there are things worse than 
Division. Indifference is worse. Worldliness is worse. Hypocrisy 
is worse. Prowelytism is worse. Love of grand effect is worse. 
Wavering in faith is worse." — Schmauk. 

ALREADY in 1909 at the Minneapolis Convention 
of the General Council, its President was look- 
ing forward to a worthy celebration of 
the four hundredth anniversary of the birth of 
the Reformation. In his report, he recalls the 
"profound influence exerted upon the early part of 
the Nineteenth Century, and felt throughout the whole 
century, and even today, by the celebration of the Three 
Hundredth Anniversary of the founding of Protestant- 
ism," when Claus Harms in 1817 by his ninety-five theses 
"sounded the trumpet and awoke the hosts of the Lord 
against the prevailing rationalism and unionism into which 
Protestantism had been falling." He urges the import- 
ance of making "a mighty effort to do something hand- 
some for our educational and missionary work during 
the next eight years" in appreciation of God's blessings 
through the Reformation. He hopes to awaken an in- 



QUADRI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 193 

terest among Americans in "the fundamental principles 
of liberty and law, of progress and conservatism which 
underlie the best life in this nation and which are found 
in the history and doctrines of the Church of the Con- 
servative Reformation." 

Again at the Lancaster Convention two years later, 
he embodies in his report the following: 

There remain but six years for the Lutheran Church to prepare 
a proper World Celebration of the Quadri-centennial of the 
Reformation. The celebration this year of the Three Hundredth 
Anniversary of the Authorized version of the English Bible has 
shown that almost no English or American writers have taken 
cognizance of the part Luther's German Version played in the 
making of the English Version, and the lesson taught is, that, 
unless we take time by the forelock, as a Church, the beginnings 
of Protestantism will be celebrated here in America by Ameri- 
cans with Luther as a great and heroic historical character, but 
with the Lutheran Church regarded as some obscure sect which 
has barely heard of the Great Reformer. To the Jubilee Com- 
mittee of our Council has been committed the extraordinary 
financial task of raising two million dollars for the Church in 
honor of the Jubilee, and also of submitting plans at this session 
for the worthy celebration of the coming event. 

His enthusiasm for the forthcoming celebration was all 
the more strengthened because he hoped thereby to see an 
awakening of the confessional consciousness in his own 
and other branches of the Lutheran Church and a tidal 
wave of evangelical Christianity set in motion among 
Protestants to counteract the rationalism and liberalism 
of the day. At the Toledo Convention in 1913, he reports 
that invitations had been extended to the General Synod 
and the United Synod South to unite with the Council 
in a joint plan of celebration. There resulted in the follow- 
ing year, on September 1st, a joint meeting of the com- 
N 



194 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

mittees of the three bodies at Atlantic City, and on Janu- 
ary 29th and 30th of 1915 another meeting at Pittsburgh 
with representatives of the Iowa and Ohio Synods also 
present. Thus was ushered in a united movement, with 
Dr. Schmauk as Chairman of the Quadricentennial Com- 
mittee, which was destined to result in a new epoch in 
American Lutheran history. 

This placed upon the shoulders of the Council's presi- 
dent an added burden of responsibility. The breaking out 
of the War, which had shaken the world with the force 
of an earthquake from center to circumference, made the 
task of creating Reformation enthusiasm exceedingly dif- 
ficult and seriously disturbed his peace of mind. He had 
much to contend with to establish orderly and effective 
modes of procedure because of loose and irresponsible 
activities and interference on the part of others. Because 
of the divided condition of the Church, there seemed to 
him to be too much overlapping of effort, and he com- 
plains : "These free lance methods are the bane of our 
Church, and makes those of us who believe in order often 
feel that it is not worth while to try for any higher union." 
He was speaking of an active committee operating in New 
York without co-ordination with his own committee. He 
writes to one of the brethren in New York late in 1916: 

"The root difficulty in the case is a looseness of general organi- 
zation of the Lutheran Church, which, then, in concentration 
upon any specific object such as this leads to multiplication of 
machinery and overlapping." Ten days later he complains to the 
same brother of the confusion created by not rightly correlating 
the machinery, in these words : "The multitude of details pour- 
ing almost daily into my office is so far beyond my strength that 
it at times almost fills me with despair." 

Nor were his difficulties lessened even when in the fol- 
lowing year some semblance of order was established; 



QUADRI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 195 

for when the United States entered the war, there were 
those who felt the sting of the reproach that was so un- 
justly heaped upon the Lutheran Church by an insidious 
propaganda and at once urged that the celebration be 
abandoned. The very mention of the name Luther, who 
at times was spoken of as responsible for the war, and 
the coupling of the name of William II with the Luth- 
eran Church as if his militaristic philosophy and his mis- 
takenly supposed Lutheranism were synonymous, were 
not conducive to much Reformation enthusiasm, and the 
anomalous situation worried the directing genius of the 
Quadricentennial Committee more than a little. But while 
this chilled the movement, it did not chill Dr. Schmauk's 
resolve to proceed with the celebration, however unto- 
ward the circumstances might be. 

THE LUTHERAN WAR COMMISSION 

Then came the Lutheran War Commission. As Dr. 
Schmauk had a leading hand in the organization of this 
Commission, a few words must be said as to its inception. 

Steps to care for our soldiers and sailors had been 
taken by the Pennsylvania Ministerium and later by other 
eastern synods. As results were not satisfactory because 
the necessary co-ordination of activities on a larger scale 
was lacking, the President of the Ministerium of Pennsyl- 
vania (Dr. H. A. Weller) called a meeting of the commit- 
tees of the several synods. Dr. Knubel was present as one 
of the representatives, and when Dr. Weller suggested 
the formation of a National Lutheran Commission and 
that the President of the General Council be asked to call 
a meeting of all the presidents of Lutheran bodies or 
synods looking to that end, it was so agreed, and the 
same night, in the month of September, 1917, telegrams 
were sent by Dr. Schmauk to the various presidents, and 



196 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

not long thereafter the National Lutheran War Commis- 
sion, with Dr. Knubel as its head, came into existence. 

As President of the General Council, he felt obliged to 
keep in close touch with its work and was in constant 
correspondence, giving counsel and direction, in order 
that the church body he represented might be sure to do 
its part in furnishing chaplains, camp pastors, Red Cross 
workers and funds to meet the needs of the crisis. His 
letters here again reveal his deep concern for orderly 
procedure and for the proper co-ordination of the agen- 
cies and the church bodies in this work. This soon be- 
came an accomplished fact, and with an able and efficient 
War Commission functioning for the whole Lutheran 
Church (excepting Missouri), in orderly manner, the ma- 
chinery moved along smoothly and without any serious 
hitches. While Dr. Schmauk was not an active mem- 
ber of the Commission, he did much by way of advice 
and direction to add to its efficiency. 

THE EVENTFUL MEETING OF APRIL 18, 1917 

When the Quadricentennial Committee met at the City 
Club, Philadelphia, on April 18, 1917, a surprise was 
sprung upon its chairman and the other clerical mem- 
bers. The question to be discussed was "Federation or 
Unification of the Lutheran Church." Dr. Schmauk 
opened the discussion by stating that he "was opposed to 
federation." There was "too much states rights idea" 
about it. "This would only postpone real unity and even 
oppose it." He "was prepared to offer a sliding scale 
from a general to as much involved a union as the Lu- 
theran Church will stand. In a word, what we want is 
an organic unification of the whole, and not a strength- 
ening of individual units by a mutual league which will 



THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 197 

encourage permanent maintenance of smaller bodies in 
their individual spheres." 

Then came the surprise. The Hon. J. L. Zimmerman 
immediately arose and said : "The laymen have a plan 
of unification which will merge the bodies that enter it," 
and proceeded to read a resolution that had been adopted 
by the laymen in separate session the evening before: 
"Resolved, That this meeting request the Joint Lutheran 
Committee to arrange a general meeting of the Lutherans 
to formulate plans for the unification of the Lutheran 
Church in America." 

With his clear insight for orderly procedure, Chairman 
Schmauk, somewhat surprised and non-plussed, remarked: 
"This must be presented to and acted upon by the official 
authorities of the Church in a meeting of the men from 
all bodies participating. There must be proper authority 
to propose plans." 

"This plan will include all bodies willing to unite," re- 
plied Mr. Zimmerman. 

"It is essential to agree upon method before making 
the official proposal to any body if there is to be hope 
of its success," remarked Dr. Schmauk. 

Then Mr. E. Clarence Miller rose and said: "There 
is no committee in my opinion which has as much author- 
ity to discuss the union of the three bodies as this one. 
We are appointed with authority to arrange for a proper 
celebration of the Four Hundredth Anniversary of the 
Reformation. Nothing we can do can better mark this 
celebration than the union of the Lutheran Church, or at 
least our three bodies. At the first meeting of the Joint 
Committee at Atlantic City, I presented a resolution that 
the celebration should be marked by the union of the 
three bodies in the year 1917, but such a motion was 



198 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

then considered premature. The time has now come 
for us to undertake this great move for our Church. 
This is the psychological moment, and I move that when 
we convene after lunch we discuss the basis of unity 
looking toward the union of the three bodies." 

The laymen had taken the meeting by storm and the 
motion carried without further debate. 

At the afternoon session, a definite plan for union 
was presented by Mr. Miller advocating the merging of 
the three bodies; the extending of an invitation to other 
Lutheran bodies after the plan should be approved by 
the three; the merging of all the boards except the Swe- 
dish and the German; and the appointment of a com- 
mittee to prepare a constitution. After further discus- 
sion by the laymen, there was no disposition on the part 
of the clergy to oppose the plan, though the question of 
divergence in practice was raised as a possible obstacle in 
the way. 

The Chairman was then requested to present a plan 
which he deemed to be feasible. His plan provided for 
a gradual growing together until the time was ripe for 
complete merging when the original bodies should cease 
to exist. He stated: "The essential difference between 
my plan and that proposed by Mr. Miller is that the 
latter contemplates an immediate merger of unities and 
mine contemplates an organic absorption of unities. My 
plan would go into gradual operation; that of the laymen 
into immediate operation." 

When asked for the difference between a Federation 
and a Unity of unities, he replied that 

A Federation, while more substantial than a league, is less 
so than a Union or a Unity. A League is a bundle of independent 
unities, tied together by binding compact or by treaty. The bond 
is external and does not imply permanent control. A Federation 



THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 199 

is a series of separate sovereign states bound together by a com- 
pact or act of union which is not reconstructive of the unities, 
and which retains the internal sovereignty of each member un- 
impaired. The bond is internal, but not reconstructive. A Unity 
of Unities is a final and substantial entity, in essence, in which 
the units permanently give over general powers to the central 
unity and in which the central unity, to the extent to which it 
has powers, governs the whole organism. 

In the case of our Church, the General Bodies would go into 
the higher unity, not under pressure of an immediate or hasty 
merger, but would give, up successively such functions as were 
ready to be merged. This leaves provision for the General Bodies 
to exist until they find themselves able to transfer all powers to 
the general unity and thus become absorbed in it. 

As will thus be seen, there was in Dr. Schmauk that 
sound Lutheran instinct which discounts union for 
union's sake but wants it to be rooted in an organic inner 
life. Church bodies should grow together and not be 
merely tied together. The instinct was true to the faith 
and spirit and character of the man. 

When it became known that the Quadricentennial Com- 
mittee had taken steps looking to an immediate union, 
the question was raised as to its authority to project 
such a movement. An editorial appeared in The Luth- 
eran questioning its authority. Both Drs. Jacobs and 
Schmauk, as their correspondence reveals, were opposed 
to so sudden a welding together of the bodies before 
the bodies themselves could have an opportunity to move 
in the matter. The former had offered a motion looking 
toward a more deliberate and gradual method of unifi- 
cation and had expressed himself as opposed to precipi- 
tate action. But the die was cast. Union in some way 
and in some form was now to be wrought out, and at 
the Chair's suggestion a committee was appointed to pre- 
pare a mode of procedure. (Dr. Singmaster later pre- 



200 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

sented an admirable plan that was adopted). When af- 
terwards a motion was made that the presidents of the 
three bodies appoint a committee to draft a constitution, 
and that this committee receive from the boards plans 
as to their merging, the final result to be presented to 
the General Bodies the same year, the pathway was cleared 
for the union which took place at New York on November 
11, 1918. 

A second sober thought on the part of not a few, en- 
dorsed the conviction of the President of the General 
Council, that haste could have been made to good ad- 
vantage a little more slowly. There were important issues 
involved, and fears were expressed that the Augustana 
Synod, and several German synods, might not be willing 
to enter so hard-and-fast a merger. Besides, such a union 
of the more Anglicized bodies would tend to alienate other 
Lutheran bodies that favored a Federation and thus post- 
pone the day of ultimate union. Dr. Schmauk feared 
this and it remains to be seen whether or not his fears 
were well founded. As before noted, he wanted no 
"Atlantic Coast Lutheranism" that would tend to foster 
an Eastern Lutheranism as over against a still narrower 
and more constricted type of Western Lutheranism. The 
future of the Lutheran Church in this country demanded 
a welding process that would give promise of linking both 
together so soon as nationalistic peculiarities should cease 
to control the situation. 

Three days previous to the eventful meeting of the 
Joint Committee on Constitution on May 31, 1917, at 
Harrisburg, there appears in his diary the brief notation : 
"Constitution Matters, etc." The following day it ap- 
pears again with the addition, "All working." (Dr. 
Schmauk had called to his assistance two men of large 



THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 201 

experience in such matters — Drs. Weller and Keiter — 
and assigned them special tasks to work out and formu- 
late.) The third day it appears again, with the words, 
"All working till 11.00 P. M." added. Thus an elabo- 
rate form of Constitution, embodying the essential ele- 
ments that found expression in the Constitution of the 
United Lutheran Church, was ready for that meeting. It 
occupied thirty-two typewritten pages and many parts 
of it were written out in thetical rather than constitu- 
tional form so as. to form the basis for fruitful discus- 
sion. 

At a preliminary meeting of the presidents of the three 
bodies about to merge, the various articles of their con- 
stitutions were placed side by side, only to demonstrate 
that neither of them, nor all combined, could furnish a 
satisfactory basis for the proposed union. When the 
entire Committee assembled, Dr. Schmauk offered to pre- 
sent his outline of fifteen "Points to be Considered in 
Preparing a Constitution. " This, together with an ex- 
haustive statement of the Principles of Faith prepared 
by Dr. Jacobs, Sr., then became the basis for discussion. 
It is enough to say, that what was gained by a rich ex- 
perience in Dr. Schmauk's fourteen years' incumbency 
as President of the General Council has found its way 
into the Constitution of The United Lutheran Church, 
which is acknowledged on all sides to be chiefly his crea- 
tion and his monument. 

"A FAR-REACHING QUESTION" 

His concern for a union that would embrace more 
than the three bodies led him to put the question to the 
members of the Committee at this Harrisburg meeting: 
"Will the uniting of the Three General Bodies further 



202 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

or hinder the uniting of the Whole Lutheran Church in 
America ?" 

To this he gives the following answer : 

It will further it only if: 

1. The contemplated step brings about no splits of minorities 
and the formation of one or more new bodies; 

2.^ If the respect which each of the Bodies now enjoys in the 
eyes of bodies outside be not weakened and destroyed; 

3. If the new body show itself to be fair and open to a 
still larger unity; 

4. Inasmuch as the new United Church will contain, at best, 
only one-third of all the Lutherans in North America, and prob- 
ably much less, and as it may still be overtopped in numbers by 
another General Body, should not this meeting give some con- 
sideration to an offer for a proposed federation of all Lutherans, 
based to some extent on the existing Ohio Constitution, into 
which the Augustana Synod could come? 

He then outlines a "Proposed Constitution of Federa- 
tion" and suggests as a name "The Federated Alliance 
of the Lutheran Church in America." Of this general 
body which was to meet every five years, the United 
Lutheran Church should then become a part. Later, how- 
ever, he became convinced that such a loose federation 
would retard rather than promote unity, and it was not 
further considered. 

As the first President of The United Lutheran Church, 
Dr. Knubel, enthusiastically told the writer: "It is a 
masterpiece of its kind, and the more I study it, the 
more I feel that I would not change a single sentence 
or phrase in it." The Declaration on Catholicity, which 
in essence is Dr. Knubel's creation, and which was adopted 
at Washington, is a clear-cut supplement and application 
of the principle of co-operation and is rooted in this 
matchless constitution. The merit of Dr. Schmauk's 
creation lies in the fact that it steers clear of the particu- 



THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 203 

Iarism which federation would foster on the one hand and 
of the centralization of power in the hands of an Execu- 
tive, or of a Board, on the other. 

FACING DIFFERENCES AND DIFFICULTIES 

In his frank and open way, Dr. Schmauk from the very 
beginning insisted that differences in spirit and practice 
should not be ignored, and he prepared a "statement of 
a preliminary understanding as to existing differences of 
practice and possibly of principle" which reads as follows : 

We who are charged with providing a harmonious plan of 
unification, of putting it into workable order, should not ignore 
difficulties, but ought to consider and examine them where they 
exist and see what, if anything, can be done to prevent their 
future appearance as a disruptive factor. 

We must recognize that there are great differences of prac- 
tice in the bodies attempting to unite, and in some cases between 
the bodies. 

Our hope is that time, patience, honest working out of Luth- 
eran principle, will tend, as always does the power of the truth, 
to clarify and unify these things. Meantime, so as not to give 
offence to consciences, or to produce a more hopeless disintegra- 
tion than that which we are attempting to heal, we must allow 
individual expression to both parties in any case of differences, 
and must seek an honorable modus vivendi under such difficulties. 

Our Constitution, in order to keep the main track of action 
clear and unencumbered, and to finally secure a just solution of 
these perplexing problems, has provided that they be referred to 
our Commission of Adjudication, wjhiah shall give itself to 
search for a just fundamental view covering the case and a modus 
vivendi that will be Lutheran in principle, and fair in all ques- 
tions of practice. 

The following are among the questions of differing practice: 
Open Pulpits, Open Altars, Revivals, Great Movements of the 
Day, Federal Council, Y. M. C. A.; Christian Unity, Member- 
ship in Secret Fraternities which have a Religion or a Worship 
and Ritual of their own, Co-operation with other Denominations. 

There is a difference between co-operation and fellowship. The 



204 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

latter is a far more intimate thing. Co-operation is a working 
together in the support and execution of a common plan of action. 
Fellowship is a life together. Co-operation is a limited associa- 
tion for definite ends; but fellowship is unlimited association in 
spiritual life. 

Modern Christianity greatly abuses the principle of fellow- 
ship, and in so far destroys its value and its sacredness. On the 
grounds of a broad humanity it would admit even those to the 
heart of the Church who despise the precious merits of the 
Head of the Church. This is not broad-mindedness, but latitudina- 
rianism. As an official act, to be distinguished from any kindly 
spirit which may animate it, it does injury, and is practically 
disrespect to the name of our Lord, which is the only name 
under Heaven whereby we are saved. 

We should ever bear an open, loving and helpful, not a closed 
attitude toward those outside of us who hold honest convictions 
different from our own, in the fear of God and with uncorrupt 
will. We should be patient, bearing all things, having pleasure 
in approval rather than condemnation; in concord rather than 
in discord. We should be willing and anxious to co-operate for 
the saving of souls and the upbuilding of Christ's Kingdom with 
all of God's children wheresoever they may be found. Yet we 
are prevented from co-operating if thereby an injury is done 
to the blood-bought treasure, the pure doctrine of salvation, the 
truth as it is in Christ Jesus, for which thousands of our fathers 
have laid down home, friends, worldly success and life. 

With those to whom the purity of the faith means little, or 
means less than friendship, blood, practical success, the spirit 
of the age, we are in danger. A Church which exists solely 
for the sake of the pure Gospel principle cannot be asked to 
commit itself to association with any people, plan, teachings, or 
temperament, which derogates from the truth, or conveys the 
impression that we have loosened our hold and relaxed our 
standard of the truth. 

Wherever we can work with a common Christianity, with the 
assurance that no harm, immediate or ultimate, will come to 
our own great purpose of witness to the truth, we are ready to do 
so with joy. On the other hand, unwillingness to co-operate 
with others, if it grow out of honest conviction, is not to be taken 
as sign of bigotry, or as evidence of a narrow outlook, but as a 



THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 205 

willingness to stand by one's convictions, and to be loyal to 
Christ and His truth as we see it. 

Wherever we can co-operate on the foundation of unity in 
doctrine and faith and in the Sacraments, which is the criterion 
set up by the Augisburg Confession, we ought to do so ; and 
in all cases we are to possess the temper of a sympathetic mind, 
the strong grasp of an honest heart, the sterling disposition which 
is true at once to faith and to charity, and which, in the long run, 
is the only one of service in dealing with the problem of a 
common Christianity, a problem which we did not ourselves cre- 
ate and which God Himself will have a hand in solving. 

This leads to the following positions: 

1. We will co-operate with all common movements with 
which we are on common ground, or which show such respect 
and understanding for our ground as not to minimize it or in- 
volve it in peril, or which will not lead to the appearance of 
fellowship and unity where in reality it does not exist. 

2. That in any such movement we are always representing 
our own principles and practice and are assuming responsibility 
only in those matters in which we are in complete harmony with 
the principles and practice of the movement. 

3. That individual liberty of co-operation is to be determined 
by the official declarations of the Church on the subject, and that 
committees and fraternal delegates are to go only so far as 
they represent the principles and declarations of the Church. 

DR. SCHMAUK'S IDEAL OF THE MERGER 

When once his conviction was formed that in the 
Providence of God the time for this union had come, 
he poured the whole energy of heart and soul into it 
and became the very incarnation of the project. What 
may be termed a sort of salutatory and prophecy of the 
Merger finds expression in these words of his which 
appeared in The Lutheran previous to the New York 
Convention : 

My ideal of the Merger is to get together what belongs to- 
gether in Christ. It is to make supreme, over all incidental 
issues of territorialism, culture, language, or other incidentals, 



206 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

our common conviction, trust, faith in the Gospel as we see it 
in its world-conquering power. It is to knit together into a com- 
mon organism and active life all those who are in the unity of 
the faith. Instead of an aggregation or string of tiny jangling 
bells, whose confused notes often neutralize each other, it is to 
fuse our precious metal into one great and deep-throated cathe- 
dral bell of testimony, whose tones, ringing true to the precious 
metal of which it is composed, shall vibrate its music of testimony 
to the ends of the earth. 

But this is not to be a mechanical consolidation, inspired by 
mere economic or other secondary motives. The fervor of our 
original individual life is not to be asphyxiated, crushed, or evapo- 
rated out of us. The most delicate flower of individuality, as 
God has created it in us, and as Christ has nourished it by His 
Holy Spirit, is not to be destroyed by the mechanism of unifor- 
mity. We are dealing with organic life, the life of the Spirit, 
and not with inert masses. Our problem is to grow into lib- 
erty and unity, one and inseparable. No one is forcing this 
movement of growth by a hot-house process. 

We are living today in a world ferment such as has not oc- 
curred for many ages. Providence has furnished us an oppor- 
tunity in this period of the rise of world movements among 
nations, which will not come to us again for generations. The 
nations of the earth, orient and Occident, are acting together in 
great and common volume such as has never been known before. 
The mind of the country is being educated to look to essential 
movements, and to drop that which is secondary. Everything 
is being organized along the line of its greatest strength and for 
the attainment of its supreme purpose. 

The American nation has been roused to enter the war for the 
purpose of upholding its own highest ideals, and of making them 
permanently effective in the history of the world. Such days 
as we are living in, big with issues of the future, have never 
dawned on any American generation. Shall the secular forces 
of humanity combine into a mighty brotherhood, under the in- 
fluence of common ideals and for the execution of ultimate pur- 
poses, while the ibrotherhood of the Lord lags far in the rear in 
fragmentary confession of its faith? Our faith is the sublim- 
est of all ideals, and if men of the world, appreciating the crisis 




o M 



THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 207 

into which it has been brought today, are willing to offer life and 
treasure for the common cause, the Church of our Lord, with 
an ideal higher, more glorious, and more imperishable than them 
all, must assert her loyalty to her cause, must reveal her inner 
unity of faith in her actual brotherhood of life, and must step 
forth in the confidence of her strength in her victorious Lord 
to do things, to convince hearts, and to measure up to her oppor- 
tunities, far more fully than she has attempted in the past. 

WORKING FOR THE MERGER 

The years 1917 and 1918 proved to be extremely busy 
and eventful and made heavy demands upon his strength 
and energy. As Chairman of the Ways and Means Com- 
mittee to prepare for the merging of the three bodies, 
and as President of the General Council to keep the 
Swedes and Germans in sympathy with the movement, 
an enormous amount of labor and responsibility fell to 
his lot which, added to his pastoral, professorial, literary 
and other activities, often made him feel like an Atlas 
carrying the world on his shoulders. Notwithstanding 
many serious physical breakdowns, he did an amount of 
work which it would have been foolish for even three 
gifted men to attempt. Protests on the part of physi- 
cians and friends seemed useless; for the zeal of the 
Lord's House had eaten him up. A crisis was upon the 
Church and, whatever might happen to his body, his 
spirit must toil on in spite of the frail tenement in which 
it was encased. That indomitable will of his kept the 
spirit functioning, and it often seemed as if he lived more 
out of the body than in the body. However far afield 
his spirit might roam, it bore on its wings the motto, 
"I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is 
day, for the night cometh when no man can work." 

When friends in several synods wrote to him expressing 
misgivings as to the wisdom of the Merger, he poured 



208 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

forth long letters giving reasons why the Merger could 
no longer be delayed. To those who feared that the Luth- 
eran Church's position against secret'ism and union- 
ism would be jeopardized, he writes that these dangers 
cannot be warded off by legislation and discipline, but 
by an earnest and conscientious educational process. He 
complains that if the Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan 
and other synods had united with the General Council in 
1867 and adopted its educational method of dealing with 
these issues, the outlook for future historic Lutheranism 
in this country would today be very much brighter. He 
maintained that while Secretism was not specifically pro- 
hibited in the Scriptures, it was beyond a doubt a valid 
deduction from the Scriptures that it was an evil which 
Christians must avoid. "Should we withdraw from this 
Merger, or should we enter it and cast the weight of 
our teaching and influence against the evil?" is his ques- 
tion. "If the Lord desires this movement, we should 
not stand against it. If He does not desire it, we should 
oppose it" — such are his concluding words. 

The affection and confidence he had won from brethren 
in the New York Ministerium, and the Canada and Mani- 
toba Synods, enabled him after much effort to win their 
support for the Merger. When the General Council met 
in Philadelphia and celebrated its Golden Jubilee in the 
fall of 1917, the way had been so well prepared by its 
President (with the aid of Drs. Weller, Keiter and Frank 
Fry) for union with the other two Bodies that not a 
dissenting voice was raised against it. The meeting in 
Witherspoon Hall, with committees from the sister bodies, 
will not soon be forgotten. It proved to be a sort of tri- 
umphal procession into the "delightful Canaan" of a re- 
united Lutheranism that was to be given its final seal a 



THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 209 

year later. Iowa was present in the person of a repre- 
sentative to declare that a fifty years' wooing was now 
to be ended, and Dr. Schmauk replied that if Iowa had 
been won, she would now be in a position to help de- 
cide whether the General Council should enter the Merger 
— otherwise not. No one could have been more loathe 
to surrender the Council's identity and speak the vale- 
dictory than was its President; but his eye was on the 
Lutheran Church's future and not on a particular organ- 
ized part of it, and he made the sacrifice manfully and 
hopefully. The one thorn in the flesh of his high hopes 
was the defection of the Augustana Synod at its meet- 
ing in Minneapolis on June 13, 1918. After hours of 
debate and in spite of strong pleas on the part of such 
leaders as Drs. Abrahamson, Brandelle and Lindberg, 
warm friends of the General Council, the vote against 
the Merger carried and the delegation from the East, 
headed by Dr. Jacobs, flashed the telegram over the wires 
to Lebanon: "Augustana will not enter the Merger." 

AGAINST COALITIONS IN THE CHURCH 

In a new body, such as that which was to be formed 
by a union of the General Council, the General Synod 
and the United Synod South, it was inevitable that much 
concern as to who should be its executive head should 
be felt by leading men in the Church. It was quite natural 
that some should be apprehensive as to what the future 
of the merged Church would be were it to fall into the 
hands of an unsafe leadership. It was that fear which 
induced him to allow the convention in New York to 
express itself by vote either for or against his election, 
though it was contrary to his personal inclination, as ex- 
pressed by him to many of his friends, to assume the 
responsibility of leadership in the new body which they 
O 



210 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

believed him eminently qualified for. When he learned 
that coalitions were being arranged in behalf of certain 
men, himself included, and when he and certain others 
received letters with a view to forming some such com- 
binations, he became conscious of a grave danger that 
was threatening the peace and welfare of the proposed 
union at the very start and set himself like a flint against 
it. While thoroughly sympathizing with these friends, 
not of his own body, in their anxiety as to the future 
leadership, he left no doubt as to where he stood on this 
very important question. It alarmed him to think that 
church politics, so much in evidence in other ecclesiastical 
bodies, might find its way into the United Lutheran 
Church also. These letters reflect the true character of 
the man, and parts are well worth quoting. 

As I seem to be involved in this matter, I must in self-defense 
say that I am no politician. I believe in the control of move- 
ments, and my whole strength has been exerted in that direction, 
and I feel that the new Church would never have been what it 
is, if a number of the men of the Ways and Means Committee 
had not worked day and night to secure the present results. 
But I draw the line at men. 

I have always felt that the sacred cause of liberty, and es- 
pecially of Christian liberty, requires that a man vote in accord- 
ance with the dictates of his own conscience, and that the Church 
of the Lord ought set an example in this matter. Therefore I 
am no politician. I have never been a candidate for any office, 
and any honor that the Church bestowed on me would be' bought 
too dearly if I had to manoeuver or manipulate for it. 

I have never, to my knowledge, expressed the desire or a will- 
ingness to hold any office, with a solitary exception, and that 
was in connection with the directorate of the Philadelphia Semi- 
nary. [He then gives his deep concern for the welfare of the 
institution as a reason.] I have 'been President of the General 
Council for quite a long period of years, but I never would have 
accepted this office or any other on a mere majority vote, or 



THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 211 

on any vote less than one which would make me feel that the 
Lord had called me to that particular duty, and that I had the 
confidence of practically the whole constructive part of the body. 

Like other men, I see what I think I can do in organizing 
work, but I do not believe it to be right to engage in it in the 
Church unless there is a divine call coming from those duly 
authorized to speak. The honors of public office do not appeal 
to me in taste, and while I do feel deeply hurt and cut to the quick 
when I am ignored or pressed to the wall by the selfishness of 
others, I do not resent or resist, but my impulse is to at once step 
down and out. 

With this feeling, and my solicitude respecting the United 
Lutheran Church, you can see that I could not deliberately be- 
come active in maneuvering for the candidacy of any one, in- 
cluding myself, for office in The United Lutheran Church. If 
it is once demonstrated that methods such as these have pre- 
vailed, I might feel the call to antagonize them with all my 
heart, or to drop entirely out of the ranks. 

That this is my real innermost position, so far as my own 
public life is concerned, should be evident to any one who knows 
me. I have remained pastor of the only congregation that I ever 
served now for thirty-five years, in spite of temptations that have 
come to take me into higher fields. 

I feel that the United Church should seek to do the right 
thing, irrespective of old parties, and past conflicts, and should 
rise above them, and act in the fear and love of God. 

This registers his conviction that conscience should 
enter into a delegate's vote and that no Christian can feel 
that he is divinely called to an office in the Church when 
elected by worldly political methods. He did not stand 
alone in the fear that such methods might find their way 
into The United Lutheran Church. 

THE CONVENTION IN NEW YORK 

Dr. Schmauk came to the Merger Convention in New 
York on November 11th, just after the bells had rung 
out their glad notes that the World War had ended and 
that peace had come, in buoyant spirits, seemingly more 



212 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

vigorous than usual. As Chairman of the Ways and 
Means Committee, it fell to his lot to preside at the meet- 
ing while the details necessary for the consummation 
of the Union were being attended to in business session. 
These had been so thoroughly prepared and were so ably 
presented by the Chairman as to require little more than 
peffunctory motions to make The United Lutheran Church 
an established fact. When the necessary work on Nov. 15th 
was done, the temporary President turned to the three 
delegations, greeted each with the word "United", and 
declared that now The United Lutheran Church in Amer- 
ica had become a reality. The jubilation of the assembly 
found fitting expression in the singing of the grand old 
hymn, "Now Thank We All Our God." 

The towering personality and the leading and inspiring 
genius of that Convention was by common consent ad- 
mitted to be Dr. Schmauk. Had the question of service 
and leadership been decisive in the election for the presi- 
dency that followed, he would undoubtedly have become 
the first President of The United Lutheran Church. He 
deserved the honor if ever man did. But he lacked the 
necessary votes. The General Synod delegation was con- 
siderably larger than that of the General Council, and 
while he led in the first two ballots, it became evident 
that a man from the General Synod would be accorded 
that honor, and Dr. Schmauk more than once stated that 
he rejoiced that so safe and conservative a man as Dr. 
Knubel had been chosen to that high position. With 
characteristic sincerity and nobleness of spirit Dr. Knubel 
soon after the Convention asked for the hearty support 
and co-operation of Dr. Schmauk in the following earnest 
words : 



THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 213 

Dear Dr. Schmauk: 

It is difficult for me to express to you all that is in my heart. 
Please try, however, to understand to the limit what I mean 
when I say that I should feel it impossible to do anything of 
this new work unless I had your heart's sympathy and prayer, 
and your great wise help. All of this I am convinced that I have 
from you. The evidence is plain to me both from your words 
and from your constant actions throughout the sessions. You 
can scarcely know how this upheld me. I felt like a child in 
taking hold of the work. I was and am confident of Christ's 
unfailing grace, yet it seemed to me that a large measure of 
that grace must come to me through you. The passing hours 
and days of the Convention increasingly manifested the nobility 
of your spirit and of your readiness to stand by. 

What is ahead of us none of us can know. We are sure, how- 
ever, that even larger and truer things for our Church are being 
held before us by our Lord. We must unfailingly trust His con- 
stant provision for our need. Your own experience and knowl- 
edge and wisdom are a great asset. Thus it is that I feel so 
grateful because of what these mean for the Church and of what 
they mean for me in my position. 

Thanking you then once more and asking you to know the 
fullness of what I have written, I am 
Very sincerely, 

F. H. Knubel. 

With equal sincerity and frankness Dr. Schmauk re- 
plies as follows on November 25, 1918: 

My dear Dr. Knubel: 

Yours of the 20th is before me and I deeply appreciate its 
devout and spiritual tone. I feel that you and I are surely at 
one on the oneness of the Gospel, and on the necessity of the 
preeminence of the Spirit in the workings of the Church. 

My heart rejoices to have found a man who desires to draw 
his strength from things spiritual and to know that it is such 
an one who is at the head of our beloved Zion. 

When you made your persistent argument for the word "Evan- 
gelical" in the Joint Ways and Means Committee, I felt the same 
way, and though I may possibly have taken the opposite position 



214 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

— I do not recall — I really was most heartily at one with you in 
all that underlay your words. I do not see the use of organism, 
organization, finance, and earthly results, if the Gospel and the 
spiritual reconstruction of man by the Spirit through the Word 
be not kept central. 

As to my co-operation, it is most genuine and hearty on this 
basis, as well as along many lines of principle that are common 
between us. And since you have now spoken several times con- 
cerning it, it is probably right that I speak to you frankly and 
confidentially on the subject. I will put down my thoughts in 
the order in which they came to me during this ecclesiastical 
evolution, and without any designed logical connection. 

As the letter is very long, it is possible only to give 
the gist of it. He states that to co-operate in the highest 
sense, it will be necessary for him to be placed in the 
inner circle of confidence where he can have "the oppor- 
tunity of helping constructively to form the original 
judgment while the matter is still in plastic stage." He 
is willing, however, to co-operate in the outer circle in 
the support of any enterprise or plan, even if it does not 
come before him in its initial plastic stage, provided he 
can be "heartily in favor of it." He then adds: "But 
if I believe it to be the wrong thing, or the right thing 
with a poor method, I must reserve to myself the liberty 
of opposing it." As life is short, he feels the need of 
"selecting such things as seem to demand originative ac- 
tivity." There are so many spheres in which he feels 
"called to act creatively" that he has great reluctance "to 
stand by that which," as he says, "I have not compre- 
hended from the start in its length and breadth." 

Should Dr. Knubel prefer to have his co-operation "in 
the outer circle," he will most heartily and readily give 
it, but would like the assurance that no offense will be 
taken should he be obliged to oppose any plan or project, 
or should he fail to participate where he does not fully 



THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH 215 

understand for lack of an inner knowledge. In such par- 
tial co-operation, he asks "the full right to make original 
contribution" in matters he believes he understands with- 
out regard to what may have been planned without his 
participation. 

Should Dr. Knubel desire more close and intimate co- 
operation, he will cheerfully give it. He believes himself 
to be in full inner accord with the spirit, principles and 
aims of the President of The United Lutheran Church, 
but realizes that "there are certain principles, views and 
persons whose influence on the Church if it be allowed 
to go permanently into their control will become sub- 
versive of a great part of what you and I stand for," and 
he expects to oppose whatever he regards as likely to 
threaten the future welfare of the Church. He is ready 
to pour out his whole heart in confidence in this intimate 
co-operation with the understanding that the confidence 
be reciprocated. Nor should this confidential dealing 
abridge the President's freedom of action in any wise, 
just as little as his own freedom would be abridged. 

I am willing to trust you to the uttermost [he says] and want 
to feel that in consulting me you are simply helping to form your 
own judgment as the final arbiter and not getting information of 
which others shall be the judge. Nor do I mean to cut you off 
from any other source which you may desire to have, whether 
external or confidential, whether opposed to me or not, pro- 
viding that the faith between you and me be kept 

So then two ways of co-operation are possible, first, one in 
which I take no initiative, or if I take it do so at my own risk, 
and in which you ask for my help after the plan has been pre- 
pared. The other is co-operation in which you and I discuss 
conditions creatively and intimately and in which I put you on 
the inside and you put me on the inside, so far as our own com- 
mon comprehension is concerned, and in which you agree to 
keep my treasures safe in the degree to which I am frank with 



216 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

you, without however depriving yourself of the freedom to con- 
sult and be guided by any others, except the handing over of that 
which I would not want to have betrayed. 

My reason for being so exceedingly frank is because we are 
standing at the beginning of a long period of work, and because 
in my judgment it is absolutely essential — for we are both high- 
strung and keenly sensitive as to honorable dealings — to provide 
a way which will be well understood by both of us, and in which 
we Both can work comfortably and feel mutually assured of the 
perfect squareness and the affection of the other, and can avoid 
any embarrassment of apparent complicity which despite our best 
efforts may arise on the surface of things. 

If we can find a fundamental basis of common trust as be- 
tween each other, we can get along finely and helpfully, whether 
our co-operation be only in the outer circle, or in any one of 
the concentric circles converging toward the center. 

This was simply a plea for co-operation on the basis 
of full mutual understanding and confidence, without 
which no real co-operation is possible. 

DR. KNUBEL'S CHRISTMAS GREETING (1919) 

Following is a greeting from Dr. Knubel to his chief 
helper : 

"It is impossible to send greetings to all to whom I should like 
to send them, but I cannot refrain from a word of fervent 
thanks to the Executive Board at this Christmas, one year after 
the United Church's life. Next to the Lord of Christmas, you 
have been my support — and you have been wonderful. May that 
Lord give you richly real Christmas joy. 

Gratefully, 

F. H. Knubel. 

THE NATIONAL LUTHERAN COUNCIL 

The work of the Lutheran War Commission had 
brought the various Lutheran bodies co-operating to 
recognize the need of some organized form of affiliation 
in the future, after the war should be ended. Some 



THE NATIONAL LUTHERAN COUNCIL 217 

thought of making the War Commission the basis of such 
an affiliation by giving it new functions for co-operation 
in external matters. Dr. Schmauk at once recognized 
the futility of establishing a co-operative unity on such a 
basis, and together with Dr. H. A. Weller, then president 
of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, prepared a form of 
organization for what was at that time termed a "Luth- 
eran Federal Council." The originator of the idea was 
not Dr. Schmauk but Dr. Weller; but when once it took 
root in his own mind, he became its advocate and con- 
structive genius. 

At a meeting of the presidents in Harrisburg in the 
summer of 1918, an outline for organization was pre- 
sented by him, and when later at a gathering of represen- 
tatives from the various bodies held in Pittsburgh on 
August 1, 1918 (at which meeting Dr. Weller acted as 
his representative), the War Commission-basis idea was 
again pressed, it was decided, after considerable dis- 
cussion, that a freshly-constituted meeting of represen- 
tatives should be called, to assemble in Chicago on 
September 6th. At this meeting Dr. Schmauk was pres- 
ent, accompanied by Drs. Weller, Keiter, C. M. Jacobs, 
Krauss', Stump and Rev. G. K. Rubrecht to represent 
the General Council. When it was learned that a meet- 
ing of representatives from other Lutheran bodies had 
met the day previous in Minneapolis and agreed to urge 
upon this assembly the organization of a "Lutheran 
Federation for co-operation in external matters/' and 
when the presidents in preliminary session sprang this 
idea upon him, he protested against it with all the vigor at 
his command and was prepared to leave Chicago with 
his delegation forthwith. However, the latter prevailed 
upon him to remain and when all the representatives 



218 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

assembled, he was asked to present his paper, "as a 
possible form of organization of a National Lutheran 
Council." He did so, and it passed item by item without 
change or amendment and "The National Lutheran 
Council" became a fact. It was he who nominated Dr. 
H. G. Stub as its first president. While he counselled 
much with Dr. Knubel and others and did much to help 
shape the policy of the Council, he was glad to place 
on other shoulders the responsibility for the direction of 
its affairs. His interest was most deeply manifested in the 
creative period; that having passed, he asked to be re- 
lieved from participation as a member of the Executive 
Committee, though he was by no means indifferent to 
its workings and desired to be kept informed. While 
Dr. Schmauk -was not present at the Chicago Conference 
on Faith and Practice, it goes without saying that no 
one present was more deeply concerned or more alive 
to the issues at stake than was he. 



CHAPTER XVIII 
The Closing of a Strenuous Life 

/ have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have 
kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of 
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me 
at that day. — 2 Tim. 4 :7 , 8. 

DR. SCHMAUK, as has already been indi- 
cated, conducted a marvelously voluminous 
correspondence. He would sometimes dash 
off letters of great length that were comprehensive 
and brilliant in thought. He often answered letters 
under a spell of real inspiration, letters that 
would bear publication as telling articles on timely 
subjects. He worked methodically and under fixed 
routine, and would be much disturbed when his routine 
was broken into. He never opened letters from others 
until he was ready to answer them, so as to have the 
advantage of a first impression. In the mornings, when 
preparing to take the train for the Seminary, he would 
hurriedly eat his breakfast, and, with a stenographer at 
hand, dictate letters while eating. He worked till late 
in the night, and sometimes allowed himself but five 
or six hours of sleep. 

Nor did he lose his hold on his pastoral work in the 
congregation. In spite of the assistance rendered by his 
associate pastor, A. W. Liebensperger, during his busiest 
years, he kept in close touch with his people and did a 
large share of the pastoral work. His diary shows that 
he kept up a systematic visitation of the sick and needy, 
and often under great physical disability. To him, the 



220 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

call to preach and teach the Gospel and to minister to 
souls was the supreme obligation of the ordained minister. 
It was the very capstone in the arch of his many-sided 
activities for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God. 
Irresistible as was his impulse to plunge into the larger 
work of the Church, had he been forced to choose be- 
tween the two spheres of activity, he would, as he more 
than once expressed himself, have labored as a preacher 
and a pastor rather than as an administrator or pro- 
fessor, much as he loved the work of the latter. 

Notwithstanding that he had been relieved of official 
responsibility when the General Council ceased to func- 
tion, the year 1919 was rilled with issues and engage- 
ments of great importance. It was the testing period 
of The United Lutheran Church. To him it was perhaps 
the most trying year of his life. Would this newly formed 
body stand firm as over against the vagaries in faith 
and life and practice which the unsettled state of affairs 
in the world had washed as so much rubbish on the 
shores of the Church? This was his great concern. 
The interests of the faith — rather than those of any 
particular Lutheran Church body — were dear to his heart 
and caused him much anxious thought, and at intervals 
grave apprehension. The spirit of the times, with its 
superficial and spectacular movements in Church and 
State, made him feel deeply the crisis of the hour. . Be- 
sides, much projected and unfinished work — particu- 
larly the proposed revision and simplification of the 
Graded Sunday School System — weighed heavily on his 
mind and heart. 

In 1920 a voluminous correspondence (in addition to 
the two latest books he issued) was conducted concerning 
important issues connected with The United Lutheran 



CLOSING OF A STRENUOUS LIFE 221 

Church, European Relief, Sunday School Work, the 
Interchurch Movement, and the like. 

The amount of thought and energy he expended dur- 
ing the last two months of his life on vital matters that 
lay next to his heart goes far to explain why the end 
came so soon afterwards. Cares and concerns multi- 
plied and his soul was much in travail. He lost much 
of his wonted buoyancy of spirit. That buoyancy was 
always nature's best restorer in his case. Absorbed as 
he was in the many interests and problems of the Church, 
it was useless for friends to expostulate with him and 
seek to induce him to take a needed rest. 

He returned from a strenuous meeting of the Sun- 
day School Board of The United Lutheran Church at 
Harrisburg showing signs of weariness. He seemed 
much depressed. 

DR. SCHMAUK'S LAST SERMON 

His last sermon, preached with much labor on Feb. 
29, 1920, was on the text found in the sixty-third chap- 
ter of Isaiah and the third verse : "I have trodden the 
wine-press alone." According to his notes, it began 
thus: 

"This is the cry of a soul out of the far past. It has the pathos 
of a great sorrow and strikes the deepest chord of the human 
heart. The appeal of a noble grief is profound and universal. 
It is one of the strange things of life that sorrow, which we treat 
as an enemy, from which we shrink and which we seek to banish, 
counting ourselves happy only when sorrow is absent — that un- 
welcome sorrow is the angel that opens the heart to life's most 
precious treasures. The memory of a great sorrow is never for- 
gotten, but becomes richer and more ennobling as the years go 
on. David's grief over the loss of Jonathan and his lament for 
Absalom; Rizpah's lonely watch on the rock of Gilboa; Job's 
soul cry in his uncertainty as to the goodness of God, — never 



222 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

lose their power of appeal to the human heart. Deep calleth into 
deep in them. 

"The words of our text come from the book of Isaiah, and 
from a time when Israel was in captivity. The Hebrew nation 
was humiliated before the world and left crushed and bleeding 
in the dust. But it should not perish forever. It should become 
the suffering servant of Jehovah. There should arise in its 
midst out of the bruised nation One whose face indeed was 
marred more than the face of any man — One who was stricken, 
smitten of God and afflicted — One who was despised and rejected 
of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. The piteous 
becomes glorious in beauty and power. 

"This silent Sufferer, who as a sheep before his shearers is 
dumb, has saving power. It pleases the Lord to bruise Him and 
to put Him to grief. Out of this deep humiliation shall spring 
an immortal power that shall make the nations of the earth look 
up to Him in awe. 

"And this terrible burden He bears alone! We see Him coming 
up out of the deep valley of conflict with garments dyed with 
blood, not with an army, but alone! It is not the burst of single- 
handed victory, but the cry of a great and noble sorrow." 

He then pictures Him as the Innocent one. "The 
greatest sufferer is not the man who commits sin, but 
some innocent and blameless one that is tied to him 
by bonds of relationship and affection." "Sin is never 
so dreadful as when we see the Saviour with that blood 
upon His garments. His love is never so dear as when 
we see what it has cost Him to save us." "It is the 
Cross of Jesus that is the cure for the mystery of 
sorrow." 

After the morning service, he was brought home in a 
state of collapse. This proved to be the beginning of the 
end. Bad nights and days of agony and pain compelled 
him to suspend all work. But no sooner did he feel a little 
better than he essayed to pick up a few threads of his 
many-sided literary tasks by an inner necessity regardless 



CLOSING OF A STRENUOUS LIFE 223 

of consequences. Efforts to dictate letters were followed 
by collapse. 

A letter, dated March 10, 1920, from Dr. Sailer, 
of Philadelphia, a friend and consulting physician, after 
ministering to him in his last illness, admonishes him 
to lay aside all work and worry and take an absolute 
rest. It reads in part as follows: 

"I wish I could tell you some way of getting well that would 
not interfere with your work. You will probably remember 
that Tasso dismissed his physician because he wanted him to 
live a more temperate life. I am risking the same advice to you. 
I am inclined to think that you have always been extremely in- 
temperate in work and if there is any form of excess in work 
that you could practice, you have always practiced it. For a 
while you must rest body and mind — the body in bed and the 
mind by refusing to consider any problems, and this can only be 
accomplished by keeping problems away from you. Rest first, 
then some remedies to reinforce the rest." 

But it proved to be too late to be of service. 

A change for the worse set in on March 14th, 
when he suffered excruciating pain; but while he was 
growing weaker steadily, his mind was clear and his 
voice strong for the next two days. Knowing that the 
end was drawing near, he spoke his parting words to 
his sister and friends with calmness, serenity and un- 
failing faith, and passed into life at 10.45 on the morn- 
ing of March 23d, without a struggle. Thus was brought 
to a close the final chapter of a wonderfully resourceful, 
fertile, fruitful and many-sided life. 

The esteem in which he was held within and beyond 
the bounds of the Church he served, and the conscious- 
ness that a great leader had fallen, were evidenced 
by an unusually large gathering of representative leaders 
and pastors from far and near at his funeral on March 



224 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

29th, when his body was consigned to its resting place 
in Mt. Lebanon Cemetery. 

Dr. Jacobs, Sr., preached the leading sermon on that 
occasion, being followed by Prof. Dr. Benze, who ad- 
dressed himself to the older members of Salem in Ger- 
man. 

DR. JACOBS' FUNERAL SERMON 

John 2 :17 . — "And his disciples remembered that it was written, 
The seal of thine house hath eaten me up." 

As it is God's gracious will that believers should be conformed 
to the image of His Son, it would be strange if the words of the 
Psalmist (Ps. 69:9), which the disciples recognized as peculiarly- 
applicable to the earthly life of their Master, could not be applied 
— albeit in a lower degree — to certain of his followers. The 
flame enkindled by God's Spirit cannot be confined; it must find 
an outlet. It goes forth by all the avenues through which the 
heart has contact with the outer world. All the energies of life 
are consumed in concentration upon one thing; viz., the service 
of God in the upbuilding of his kingdom. So joyful this labor, 
so absorbing the interest it cultivates, so ever expanding the 
opportunities offered, that life and health and strength are counted 
nothing, provided one can only discharge to the fullest degree the 
ministry which he has received of the Lord Jesus (Acts 20:24). 

The multitude that has come hither today from near and from 
far, many utter strangers to one another, to unite with this con- 
gregation in grief for the loss of their beloved pastor, and with 
this community in esteem for one of its leading citizens ; the 
many thousands all over the land whose hearts are at this hour 
turned toward this spot in fellowship of sorrow, and in recognition 
of the bond existing between us all, through our common love 
and admiration for this rarely gifted child of God, knowing 
him from so many different standpoints, must testify that what 
gave unity to a life adorned by so many diversified gifts and 
graces, was his zeal for the Saviour whom he preached and the 
faith which he professed. 

What an almost unprecedented record for a child to grow up 
to manhood in a congregation, and then returning to it, to serve 



CLOSING OF A STRENUOUS LIFE 225 

it as its pastor for over a generation ! How closely intertwined 
was his life with that of his people! It was a union which only 
death could sever. Living and moving among you, from day to 
day, year to year, he was verily "a living epistle, known and read 
of all men" (2 Cor. 3:2), a tower of strength, an energetic, ever 
alert and active force for truth and righteousness in Church and 
in State, a witness who always had the courage of his convictions, 
a careful and discriminating student and judge of men and tenden- 
cies at* home and abroad. With the very tones of his earnest 
voice ineffaceably impressed on the heart, the Word which he 
preached, many of the very phrases which he used, will, through- 
out all their remaining years, continue to sound in the memory 
of many here present. 

His people he knew not simply collectively, but personally. No 
widening of his horizon, no multiplicity of engagements, no ab- 
sorption in his studies, no endeavor to keep abreast of everything 
transpiring, prevented him from being the gentle, tender, sympa- 
thizing friend of every individual, however humble his station, 
committed to his care. No familiarity with scenes of sorrow, 
where he was called upon to minister the consolations of the 
Gospel, ever deadened his sensibilities to the pain that was 
wringing other hearts. "Who is weak, and I am not weak? who 
is offended, and I burn not?" he could say as well as Paul. Some 
of us at the seminary will remember how deeply depressed he 
was at times, because of the suffering of this congregation dur- 
ing the agonies and suspense of the late war, where so many 
of your young men were at the front, and under the scourge of 
the fatal epidemic that desolated so many homes. The cheerful- 
ness and vivacity with which he rose above his griefs, came from 
no superficial view of the significance of suffering in a world of 
sin, but from his firm conviction of the truth of the Gospel 
message which he preached. 

The very fact that he was not unacquainted with the various 
forms of sceptical assaults, but was a patient reader — though it 
often caused him great pain — of all that might affect the spiritual 
life of those near and dear to him enabled him with the greater 
force to testify to the preciousness of the Christian faith. While 
if need arose, he could argue with the skill and training of a 
P 



226 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

specialist in philosophy, his highest ambition, as a teacher, was 
to make God's Word plain to little children. 

From this city, in which five-sixths of his life was spent, no 
calls, however urgent, could withdraw him. The ordinary per- 
manency of the office of a pastor was a doctrine that had for 
him much attraction. Nevertheless his sympathies and interest 
could not be limited by the boundaries of city, or county, or 
commonwealth, or nation. They were world-wide. For in this 
parish, so long his spiritual home, he saw not simply a group 
of Christian people, detached from all others, but realized that 
at this spot, the One, Holy Church, throughout all the world, 
with all the testimony and resources of the Holy Spirit, is pres- 
ent, imparting all the gifts and graces, common to believers of 
every age and land. His zeal was enkindled in the parsonage, 
where, under an earnest and devout father, responsive to the 
calls of the awakening activities of the Church, the child caught 
the spirit of the home, in which he was reared, and of the influ- 
ences entering and sent forth from that center. It could not be 
otherwise than that going into the world, with principles already 
firmly established, his zeal became contagious, and that in every 
circle into which he came, the responsibility of leadership was 
thrown upon him. Burden after burden was assumed, sometimes 
as a trust, which he felt himself divinely summoned to bear, and 
sometimes it was eagerly seized because of the far-reaching 
results which his foresight discerned as possible. His sole aim 
was to crowd within his life, which he thought might be brief, 
all that could be done for the cause to which it had been conse- 
crated. What though he could not complete a task? He could 
begin it; and if it were of God, others would rise up to com- 
plete it. He had a constructive imagination, based upon a care- 
ful survey of available details, which, while faithful to the past, 
had no hesitancy, when the time came, to break away from beaten 
paths. The problem ever before him, was the readjustment of 
the old faith to new relations and conditions in a new world and 
a new age. The idealism of his philosophy and the realism of 
his historical temper were unified by the central principle of un- 
wavering faith in Christ, both as revealed in the Gospels, and 
as living and reigning in all human progress. His devotion to 
the Lutheran Church never quenched his sympathy for what was 



CLOSING OF A STRENUOUS LIFE 227 

universally Christian; nor did his consecration to the ministry 
make him the less a faithful citizen and an ardent patriot. 

Thus through his participation in deliberative assemblies, 
through his voluminous correspondence, and through the produc- 
tions of his prolific pen in books and articles, in elaborate reports 
and editorials, as well as in educational projects of many forms, 
this congregation, through its pastor, has been setting forth ever 
multiplying and widening streams of blessing. Nothing grows 
like the work of a thoroughly earnest man. The tree planted by 
rivers of waters, ever sends out new boughs, each bough new 
shoots, each shoot new buds and blossoms and fruit. 

At this hour, we cannot recount the various offices which he 
held, or estimate the value of the services which were rendered 
in each. They will be subjects of study for years to come as 
they pass into history. But were grateful recognition not given 
here, of the statesmanlike grasp of his fifteen years' administra- 
tion of the General Council, or of his relations to the seminary, 
our silence would be misunderstood. Concerning the latter which 
occupied so large a share of his attention, and in which we were 
most closely associated, we would say, that, from his under- 
graduate days, when, under the stimulation of an exceptional inti- 
macy enjoyed above all other students, with his great teachers, 
Drs. Krauth and Mann, he already prepared an elaborate scheme 
for the development of the Library, and edited "The Indicator," 
which aroused the Church to the need of a new site for the 
institution, down to his last illness, when it was a comfort to 
him to have one of his students ministering at his side, he never 
wavered in loyalty to his Alma Mater. As President of the Board, 
he was ever discussing with the Faculty, and planning new pro- 
grams. Filling the place, but declining both the title and the 
compensation of a Professor, and rendered almost homeless by 
his weekly journeys during term time, his preparations for the 
class-room constantly involved new labor, while his various en- 
gagements were often protracted until late in the night. He 
lived among the students, tried in all things to gain their view- 
point, championed their cause, and cultivated their personal friend- 
ship, as though he were an elder brother. 

So heavy has been the blow, succeeding within barely a month 
the departure of the most venerable member of our Faculty, that, 



228 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

as teacher after teacher has stepped almost from the lecture-room 
into the eternal world, we are bewildered. 

But whatever be the relations we have borne to the departed — 
and there are here representatives of many interests that are 
alike almost prostrated for the time — we have only to raise the 
standard that has fallen from his hands and to go onward. While 
the battle rages, we cannot nurse our grief. We live in com- 
munion with him by taking up his work, and prosecuting it with 
the consuming zeal which he displayed. 

We are cast down; but not in despair; or we would be false 
to the Gospel, to which the life of our departed brother was so 
brilliant a testimony. 

EXPRESSIONS OF SORROW 

That a great gap in the leadership of the Church had 
been made was expressed in many telegrams and letters 
that came to Lebanon upon the announcement of Dr. 
Schmauk's death. Dr. Knubel expressed the wide- 
spread feeling when he wired: "The sorrow and sym- 
pathy of the Church gather around Lebanon." Presi- 
dents of synods and leaders in the United Church with 
one voice poured out heartfelt expressions of their pro- 
found sense of loss. "A mighty leader has fallen" — 
"The whole Church mourns" — "His loss to the Church 
at large and to the Lutheran Church in particular is irre- 
parable" — "He was in a class by himself; no one can 
take his place," — such are among the many mournful 
statements that found their way to Lebanon. 

Nor was the sorrow confined to The United Lutheran 
Church. From the President of the Augustana Synod 
(Dr. Brandelle) the following telegram was received: 

"The Augustana Synod weeps at the bier of Doctor Schmauk. 
In his death, it has lost one of its truest and most beloved friends, 
and the Church of our land one of its greatest, most ardent and 
most trusted leaders." 



EXPRESSIONS OF SORROW 229 

A similar message came from the President of the 
United Norwegian Church (Dr. Stub). It reads as 
follows : 

"The message telling of Dr. Schmauk's death came unexpectedly. 
I hereby express my deep sympathy. The United Lutheran 
Church has sustained a great loss, as Dr. Schmauk was one of 
the ablest men — a real leader in the Lutheran Church. His mem- 
ory will live." 

ESTIMATES OF DR. SCHMAUK 

Among the many estimates of Dr. Schmauk's life 
and character and work, we must be content with three, 
which in substance express what multitudes who knew 
him feel. 

One is from Dr. Knubel, who wrote for The Lutheran 
as follows: 

"There is no man in our Church whose Christian consecration 
has been more evident, whose deep loyalty to the Church has been 
stronger, whose full participation in her thought and activity 
has been wider, whose counsel has been more constantly sought 
and given, whose influence has been more powerful and helpful 
than that of Dr. Schmauk. He is dead. How shall our hearts 
be saved from increasing heaviness? These days tell us that 
Christ's supreme blessing came to us through His death. May it 
be of all His disciples that they bless others more by what they 
suffer than by what they do. May it be that our Church will 
now receive even richer good from Dr. Schmauk than ever be- 
fore. One thing is sure, those of us closest to him in the last 
few years have received the fullest, ripest, greatest gifts he has 
ever given. His service to His Church goes on. We continue 
to thank our Lord for him." 

Another is from Dr. John Haas, president of 
Muhlenberg College, a life-long friend and co-worker. 
He says: 

"His life was to me a constant source of new inspiration to 
larger efforts in scholarship and in the practical work of the 



230 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

Church. In him I found the counter-balance to my desire to go 
further than is meet in the appreciation of what is true in modern 
thought and its development. The conservatism of Dr. Schmauk 
was a mighty force for good, and it was not a stagnant but a 
progressive development. His mind was not only analytical but 
also strongly synthetic. He possessed great constructive 
imagination. With a marvelous mastery of a multitude of de- 
tails, he never failed to marshall them for the demonstration of 
a great principle. A rich vocabulary enabled him to express his 
thought with striking exuberance and force. He joined the poet's 
appreciation with the orator's power. He could write with sim- 
plicity for the child and with philosophic insight for the thinker. 
The whole range of thought and expression was at his com- 
mand. All these gifts he laid on the altar of his Lord. 

"In his personal life he was tender, gentle, kind, considerate, 
and hungry for sincere friendship. He might fight like a lion for 
a great cause or a great principle, and yet personally he was 
always just to his opponents. There was no bitterness in his 
most vehement polemics. The sources of his spiritual life lay 
deep in his soul. Everything in him welled like a fountain out 
of the depths of his life. Even when he was playful, it was simply 
to prepare for the opening up of the hidden springs of his soul. 
His faith was sturdy, his love self-sacificing, and his hope bright 
and sweet and strong. 

"He was a born leader, and his leadership bore no marks of 
personal self -gratification or self-aggrandizement. It simply fur- 
nished him the occasion for larger and more arduous work. 
What he did, he did with all his might. We shall miss him 
in the future as a leader in Sunday-school work where he ranked 
as the pioneer in applying sound educational principles to religious 
teaching without destroying its substance. He thought construc- 
tively in his defense of the Christian faith, realizing the ne- 
cessity of upholding the Church's Confession of the Truth. His 
theology was never cramped by terminology. There was life in 
all that he expressed. He stood out as a leader in all the de- 
liberations, activities and interests of the Church. He knew 
how to fuse the diverse elements within the General Council. It 
was his influence which kept the Swedish brethren with us. 
His mind was the dominating force in the creation of The United 
Lutheran Church. Much of the best thought of its Constitution 



ESTIMATES OF DR. SCHMAUK 231 

and its plans are his work. He was the greatest man on the 
floor of its first convention. No one else measured up to him. 
We are at a loss to understand why the Lord took him at this 
time when we needed him to help give strong and consistent 
character to the life of The United Lutheran Church. One thing 
is sure, his absence from us will turn the channels of the history 
of Lutheranism in a different direction. We only hope that it 
may be a direction that augurs good. He stood among the few 
great names in the history of our Church. Since the days of 
Muhlenberg, no one's influence was so universal and touched so 
many interests as that of Dr. Schmauk. He was not only a 
scholar like Dr. Krauth, he was not only a preacher like Dr. 
Spaeth, he was not only a teacher like Dr. Mann ; but in addition 
he shaped the life of a generation in the Sunday-schools, and 
made definite the policy of the leading boards of the Church. 
Truly his was the work of a great, brilliant, devoted, zealous 
servant of his Church and his Master." 

Another is from the Parish and Church School Board 
of The United Lutheran Church, where his wisdom and 
counsel will be greatly missed. A minute on his death 
reads as follows : 

"In the death of the Rev. Theodore E. Schmauk, D.D., LL.D., 
first president of the Sunday School Board of The United Luth- 
eran Church, a loss has been sustained which it is not in the 
power of words to express. For twenty-five years he had grap- 
pled with marvellous industry and resourcefulness with the 
problem of Bible instruction for the young in the Sunday-schools 
of the General Council, and had become the advocate and inspir- 
ation of a system of Graded instruction which, though far from 
being in its final revised form as contemplated and planned by 
him, was yet recognized at Washington as the pioneer in this 
field, and without a rival. It is with profound regret, a regret 
keenly felt in schools where the system had won fast friends 
and was in successful use, that we as a Board must face this un- 
finished work without the able leadership of this prince of Bible 
teachers. He had grasped the pedagogical principles, which must 
form the basis of any sound Scriptural system of graded instruc- 
tion, with a master mind. His intimate knowledge of the child 



232 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

mind and the child nature; his wonderful adaptability which en- 
abled him to stoop to its level and meet its needs; his thorough 
acquaintance with the whole range of literature that had any 
bearing, however remote, on the subject of religious instruction 
of the young; his intense devotion and 'enthusiasm ; and above all 
his unshaken faith in the Revelation of which the Scriptures are the 
unerring record; made him a leader par excellence in this field 
of Christian educational endeavor. We bow in deep humility be- 
fore" that inscrutable divine Providence which saw fit to take him 
away in the midst of his unfinished work, and pray for wisdom 
and guidance as we attempt to take up the task where he has laid 
it down. A master workman has passed from our midst, but 
the work entrusted to our Board must and will go on." 



POSITIONS HELD IN THE CHURCH 233 



Positions Held in the Church 

I. Literary Editor of The Lutheran (1889 to 1920) 

2. Editor of Lutheran Church Review (1895 to 1920) 

3. Editor of Lutheran Graded Series and Com- 

mentary (1896 to 1920) 

4. Member of General Council Church Book 

Committee and of Joint Committee of Com- 
mon Service Book and Hymnal (1895 to 1920) 

5. Trustee of Muhlenberg College (1898 to 1920) 

6. President of the General Council (1903 to 1920) 

7. Chairman of Committee on Degrees, Muhlen- 

berg College (1903 to 1920) 

8. Member of the Executive Committee of the 

International Lutheran Conference (1903 to 1920) 

9. President of Trustees of General Council. ... (1907 to 1920) 
10. President of Board of Directors of Phila. 

Theological Seminary (1908 to 1920) 

II. Occupant of Chair of Christian Faith, 

Apologetics and Ethics, Etc (1911 to 1920) 

12. Chairman Committee of Quadri-centennial 

Celebration of Reformation (1917 to 1918) 

13. Chairman Ways and Means Committee for 

Organization of United Lutheran Church. . (1917 to 1918) 

14. Chairman of Committee on Constitution for 

United Lutheran Church (1917 to 1918) 

15. Member of Executive Board, of Board of 

Publication, and President of Sunday School 

Board of United Lutheran Church (1918 to 1920) 

16. Member of Committee on Relation of Con- 

stituent Synods of U. L. C (1918 to 1920) 

17. Member of National Lutheran Council (for 

whose organization he issued the call) (1918 to 1920) 



234 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 



Positions Outside the Church 

1. One of Organizers of Pennsylvania Chautauqua (1892) 

and its Chancellor (1895-96). 

2. One of Organizers of the Pennsylvania German Society 

(1891) and Chairman of its Executive Committee (1895), 

and its President (1896). 
3." One of Organizers of Lebanon County Historical Society 

(1898) and Member of its Executive Committee (1898). 
4. Life Member of Pennsylvania Historical Society (1898). 



Author of Following Books 

Dr. Schmauk was the author of the following : "The Negative 
Criticism of the Old Testament" (1894) ; "Catechetical Outlines" 
(1892) ; "The Voice in Speech and Song" (1891) ; "The Charms 
and Secrets of Good Conversation" (1889) ; "History of Old 
Salem in Lebanon" (1898) ; "Heartbroken" (1893) ; "Hypnotism" 
(1890); "Bible History" (1899); "Manual of Bible Geography" 
(1901); "The Early Churches of the Lebanon Valley" (1902); 
"History of the Lutheran Church in Pennsylvania from the 
Original Sources" (1903); "Bible Facts and Scenes" (1905); 
"The Christian Kindergarten" (1906) ; "The Confessional Prin- 
ciple and the Confessions of the Lutheran Church" (1909) ; 
"Annotated Edition of Benjamin Rush's Account of the German 
Inhabitants of Pennsylvania" (1910) ; "In Mother's Arms" 
(1911); "How to Teach in Sunday School" (1920); "Annotated 
Bibliography of Religious Education and Child Psychology" 
(1920). 



DR. SCHMAUK 
ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND 

ISSUES 



DR. SCHMAUK ON LIVE QUESTIONS 
AND ISSUES 

No biography of Dr. Schmauk can be satisfactory if not supple- 
mented with extracts from his letters and other writings bearing 
on living questions and issues which absorbed much of his best 
thought and energy. It is the purpose of this supplementary 
matter to let him speak for himself. 

ON THE PERSON OF CHRIST 

(In the last hour with his class in iqiq he intended to summarize the 
course he had given in apologetics but was interrupted by a question 
which asked the difference between Jesus and the great Eastern teachers. 
Immediately seeing his opportunity he combined his object of summariz- 
ing the course with the answer to the question, and without a moment's 
thought, without the use of any kind of notes, he delivered a lecture 
which will never be forgotten by the class. The following is a stenographic 
report of the lecture, as presented by one of his students.) 

Many wise men, Socrates, Confucius, Plato, Buddha, have 
said some of the things that Jesus said, but none was what He 
was. None said the things in actions as He did. 

What Jesus says is final and absolute. He never speaks specu- 
latively, never merely as a moralist, never merely as a human 
reformer. He always speaks categorically, declaring either truth 
or fact, and as rooted in the absolute. What He says is so 
final that it finds response in our hearts, and in our hearts we 
know it to be true. No prophet ever lived who spoke with such 
certitude of Himself as at once the Son of God and the Son of 
Man. In all the fullness of a world vision, with all the anticipa- 
tion of a future, with the real knowledge of a historic past, He 
stands up without, as we say, an education, and He begins to speak 
the truths that are as mighty and true today as in the past. He 
lays down the laws that are the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

No one ever did as this man, no one ever spake as this man, no 
one in this world could have begun to utter what He uttered 
Other teachers are at best conscious that they point to a realm 
of truth ; alone among leaders of the soul Jesus absorbs the highest 
principles into His own personality. To the seeker after light 
He says, "Follow me;" to one who would know the Father He 
says, "Hast thou not known me?" He says He is the Truth. 



238 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

The vision of God is in Him. He cannot merely point to rest 
and pardon, but they are in Him. Moses and the prophets did 
not dare to speak so, nor Buddha, nor Plato, nor Confucius, nor 
Socrates, nor any other teacher in the world. 

Jesus Christ is the source of spiritual reality. The spirituality 
of God, the spirituality of the First Cause of all things, the 
spirituality of the Ultimate Principle, of man, of life, of all 
worship, of the Kingdom that will prevail over all the world, 
of man's heart, of the reign of righteousness, of conduct, has all 
been introduced into the foundation of the world, into the history 
of mankind, in and through Jesus Christ. 

Spirituality is the emphasis of the truth of God as the great 
and conquering reality of life. Our Saviour in His personality 
is the one sublime exposition of the conquering of the spiritual 
in the midst of the visible. He was equally at home in the bosom 
of nature and of God. He is the Light of the world. He is the 
Life of men. "In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead 
bodily." He possesseth all power in heaven and earth, so that 
Christ is ever standing at the center of things, drawing all men 
unto Him. By Him were all things created, visible and invisible. 
He is before all in us, and in Him stand all things together. All 
things come together in Him, have order in Him. In Him and 
around Him all things converge. 

Jesus Christ is far more to us than the source of spiritual 
reality. He is the revealer of God. He is God made manifest 
in the flesh. He lives as the embodiment of God. The Son reveals 
the Father. The one is the manifestation of the other. Through 
the Son the Father reveals Himself to the world, and thus God 
comes as the Father. So the tabernacle of God is now with 
men. We dwell in Him, and He dwells in us. 

Any explanation of Christ which stops short of presenting Him 
as God loses power. The secret is that He brings God to man 
and then man to God. God is in Christ reconciling the world to 
Himself. Christ shows God to us as a power which releases 
from evil. The light and glory of the Lord comes through Him 
— "I in thee, and thou in me." Therefore it is life eternal to 
know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, 
and it is through Him alone that we are saved, for, "No man," 
says He, "cometh to the Father save by me." 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 239 

The more I study Him, the more sure I am of Him. I know 
whom I have believed because I know what He is. The world 
has had wonderful seers whose visions have shone like a beacon 
across the ocean of time. Scientists have made important dis- 
coveries which have advanced the world's progress ; historians 
have compiled data and imparted information of the greatest 
value ; Homer, Virgil and Milton have charmed our senses by 
their poems ; the philosophers have stirred us by the profoundness 
of their thoughts ; but none of these, nor all of them together, 
would be a compensation for the single life of Christ, for there 
is only One who will take us straight to the heart of the Lord, 
and straight to the Source of Life. There is only One who will 
remove from us all sin and depravity and crime, who will free us 
from pain and fear, who can lift us with His tender hand and 
cheery word, pure and joyous, out from the depths into which 
we have fallen. There is only "One who hath redeemed me, 
a lost and condemned creature, from sin, death, and the power 
of the devil with His holy and precious blood in order that I 
might be His." There is Only one who can say, "He that hath 
seen me hath seen the Father." 

Our poets paint the myriad-hued bubbles of time ; our Saviour 
controls and verges the tides of eternity. Even a Shakespeare 
stands in this world, but to Christ this world is but a small seg- 
ment in the circle. Christ is not of this world. Christ takes a 
man right to God. The great questions of faith and of life 
and death, the great problems of righteousness and sin, the great- 
est hopes, the greatest fears, the greatest joys, the greatest judg- 
ments, the greatest rewards, are those which Emerson and Spen- 
cer leave untouched, and which Milton and Dante clumsily im- 
agine, but which Christ takes up as part of Himself in simple 
and substantial certainty. Other great men offer us their thoughts, 
but Christ offers us Himself, Himself on the cross, Himself on 
the Right Hand of the Father as our Advocate and Defender. 
Chaucer's men and women are more to us than Chaucer ; Dante's 
dreams are greater than Dante ; Milton's words are mightier 
than Milton; but Christ's words are only a commentary on Christ. 
It is not the word, nor the intellect, nor the imagination, but the 
person that draws us unto Christ. To see Him, to come to Him, 
to be drawn to Him, to abide in Him, to follow Him, to learn of 



240 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

Him, to find rest in Him, to believe in Him, to be saved by Him, 
is our desire and hope, for we are from beneath but He is from 
above. He is the One that could say "He that loveth father and 
mother more than me is not worthy of me." 

Let us hold on to Christ as our life. He Himself is the sum 
total of our unfolded humanity. He neither does nor shows, but 
is. The truth that others speak, He is. The life that others 
feel and dream and describe, He is. He is Alpha and Omega. 
In the shadow of His hand will He hide thee and make thee a 
polished arrow, and in His quiver will He keep thee close. 



ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY 

(The following is a letter, written to his sister Emma when 
attending college, to counteract the rationalistic teaching concern- 
ing God which a certain professor of physics was disseminating.) 

The doctrine of the Trinity does not rest on I John (which 
is a comparatively unimportant writing, and one whose text 
in this connection may not (be definitely known) ; but upon the 
whole frame-work of Scripture. The doctrine of the circulation 
of the blood or of the sphericity of the earth does not rest so 
much on a single detached fact (as, e. g., on the beating of the 
pulse, in the former case) as on a great and broad background of 
more indirect, but more substantial proof. 

The doctrine is to be found in three classes of Scripture; those 
which teach the unity of God ; those which teach a plurality in 
God; and those which teach that there is a real and not simply a 
formal or modal distinction indicated by the plurality. The entire 
body of Scripture is impregnated with the truth of the Trinity; 
just as the entire human body is impregnated with the circulation 
of the iblood ; though in the latter case the blood nowhere appears 
on the surface. If such a great, deep, mysterious truth which is 
the fundamental thing in the being of God, were exposed openly 
on the surface, it would be altogether contrary to what is natural 
and to be expected. Surely the laws of God's own inner hidden being 
are not to be supposed to be more easily opened up than the 
laws of biology, chemistry, physics, etc. Nature flaunts none 
of these latter on the surface. And Nature's God on the same 
principle, would not be expected, to open out the truth concern- 
ing Himself (who is greater than any of His works) at first 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 241 

blush ! And there is the mistake that amateurs in theology make, 
when they pass their remarks in such a flippant way on super- 
ficial examination. If your Professor in Physics needs instru- 
ments and tests, etc., ad infinitum, and will not commit himself 
at all yet on many scientific problems — what right has he to speak 
on theological problems until he has given at least as much exact 
research to them as to his physics. 

(This is said with no animus, but merely to is'how how foolish 
it is for learned men who claim to be experts in their own de- 
partment to depart from their own principles of exactness and 
pass off-hand judgments in other departments. It is not only 
your Professor, but many of us, you and I both, who often are 
tempted to do this.) 

The Old Testament is full of the Trinity in a latent way; but 
as is the case with redemption, immortality and the other great 
doctrines, there is not much patent in this introductory stage. The 
Son and Spirit as well as the Father are spoken of in Psa. 2; 
Isaiah 48:16; and forms of speech are employed, indicating the 
mighty mystery of Trinity in unity in Num. 6:23-26; Isaiah 6:3. 

In the New Testament already at the annunciation of the birth 
of Jesus, it was stated that it should be through the Holy Ghost, 
and that he should "be called the Son of the Highest" (Luke 1 :35). 
Here is the Trinity. When Christ was baptized, the Spirit of 
God, in a bodily form, descended upon him, and there was a voice 
from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am 
well pleased." Here is a distinct revelation of Father, Son and 
Holy Ghost. When Christ gave His deepest and final teachings 
to His disciples (preparatory to His death and ascension) (John's 
Gospel), we have ample statements of the distinction and of some 
of the relations existing between the persons of the sacred Trin- 
ity, (e. g., John 17 and preceding and following chapters.) 
God the Father has sent forth God the Son into the world. The 
Son had left the glory he had with the Father before the world 
was, and came to earth to suffer and die. He is about to return 
again to the Father, having accomplished his mission. But 
another will be sent, the Holy Spirit, who will abide with the 
disciples. Coming from the Father and the Son, he will guide 
the disciples into all truth. John 14:15-26; 15:26; 16:13, 15. 
Here is the Trinity. 





242 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

When Christ was about to leave the world, and gave over the 
continuance of the work which he had simply begun, to his dis- 
ciples, he commissioned them to go out into all the world and 
preach to and baptize all people "in the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Matt. 28:19. Here is the 
Trinity in the most important and official commission the Church 
ever received. It would be an incomprehensible thing, if it were 
meaningless. "In the name of Ferdinand and Isabella" surely 
means much as to the relation between Ferdinand and Isabella 
in an official document formally delivered. 

The apostolic benediction (2 Cor. 13 :14) is in the name of the 
Triune God. Both Baptism and Benediction, the most important 
practical things in the new life of the Christian, are not in the 
name of God, or of Christ, or of the Lord ; but of the Trinity. 

The whole thought and speech of the Apostles teaches the Trin- 
ity. Thus Paul, "For through him (Christ) we both have access 
by one Spirit, unto the Father. Eph. 2:18. Again, speaking of 
the great salvation, "which at the first began to be spoken by the 
Lord (Christ), and was confirmed unto us by them that heard 
him, God (the Father), also bearing them witness both with 
signs and wonders, etc., of the Holy Ghost." Heb. 2:3, 4. So 
Peter says "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the 
Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and 
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." I Peter 1 :2. Language 
could not be plainer on so difficult a subject. 

But Take the Second Class of Passages 

1. Names or Titles of Divinity Applied to Each of the 
Three Persons of the Trinity 

A. The Father 

Deut. 32:6; 1 Chron. 29:10; Isaiah 64:8; 53:16; Mai. 1:6; 2:10; Rom. 
15:6; 1 Cor. 8:6; 2 Cor. 11:31; Gal. 1:3, 4; ICph. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:2; 
1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:2; 2 John 3. 

B. The Son 

Jer. 23:6; Isa. "41:1, 8, 10; 11:1-3; (w. John 12:41); John 1:1; 20:28; 
Acts 20:28; Rom. 9:5; 1 Tim. 3:16; Tit. 2:13; 1 John 5:20; Heb. 1:8; 
Rev. 19:17; 1 Cor. 15:47; Acts 10:36; Rev. 17:14; 19:16. 

C. The Holy Ghost 

Ex. 17:7; Ps. 95:7, 8; (w. Heb. 3:7-11); 2 Sam. 23:2; Acts 5:3, 4; 2 
Cor. 3:17. 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 243 

2. Divine Attributes 
Ascribed to each of the Three Persons : 

Eternity 

Father — Deut. 33:27; Ps. 90:2; 93:2; Isa. 57:15; Hab. 1:12; 1 Tim. 1:17. 
The Son— Ps. 45:6; Isa. 9:6; Mic. 5:2; John 1:1; 8:58; 17:5; Col. 
1:17; Heb. 13:8; Rev. 1:7. 
Holy Ghost — Heb. 9:14. 

Omnipresence 
Father — 1 Kings 8:27; Jer. 23:23, 24; Eph. 1:23. 
Son — Matt. 28:20; 18:20; John 1:18. 
Holy Ghost — Ps. 139:7; 1 Cor. 12:10-13. 

Omnipotence 
Father — Gen. 17:1; Jer. 32:17; Matt. 19:26; Rev. 11:17; i9'&> 
Son — Heb. 1:3; Isa. 9:6; Matt. 28:18; Rev. 1:8. 
Holy Ghost — L,uke 1:35; Rom 15:19; Heb. 2:4. 

Omniscience 

Father — Ps. 147:5; Isa. 11:28; 46:9; Acts 15:18; Heb. 4:13. 
Son — John 11:25; 21:17; Rev. 2:23; Acts 1:24. 
Holy Ghost — 1 Cor. 2:10, 11; John 14:26; 16:13. 

Creation Attributed to Each 

Father — Gen. 1:1; Neh. 9:6; Isa. 42:5; Heb. 3:4; Rev. 4:11. 
Son — John 1:3, 10; Col. 1:16, 17; Eph. 3:9; Heb. 1:2, 10. 
Holy Ghost — Gen. 1:2; Job 26:13; Ps. 33'^', 104:30. 

Preservation and Providence 

Father — A long list. 

Son— Heb. 1:3; Col. 1:17; Matt. 28:18; Isa. 9:7; 1 Thess. 3:2; 1 Cor. 
15:25; Rev. 11:15. 
Holy Ghost — Ps. 104:30. 

Redemption and Salvation 

Father — John 3:16; 1 John 4:9; Isa. 53:16; 45:21. 

Son — Matt. 1:21; Rom. 3:24; Eph. 1:7; Heb. 9:12; Acts 4:12; Heb. 
2:10; John 4:42; 1 John 4:14. 

Holy Ghost— Heb. 9:14; Tit. 3:5; 2 Thess. 2:13; Rom. 5:5; 1 Pet. 1:2. 

To the Father the Son declared, "Thou lovedst me before the 
foundation of the world" (John 17:24). The Father "hath 
committed all judgment unto the Son." Here there is certainly 
distinction of persons. Again, against the Holy Ghost there 
is a blasphemy distinguishing it from other sins against the 
Father and the Son, and distinguishing Him from the other per- 
sons of the Trinity. Matt. 12:31. The Holy Spirit is grieved, 
which can only be true of a Being possessed of personality. 

Kepler's laws are not as important to the average man as are 
the laws of earthly temperature. Neither are they as clearly 
revealed. But they are more fundamental. So the Trinity is 
not of as great practical importance to us as our redemption, 
righteousness, providence, etc. But the Trinity is back of and 



244 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

more fundamental than all these; and He would be a poor scien- 
tist who denies it simply because it is so far in the background. 



ON THE FREEDOM OF WILL 

(Another letter to his sister Emma to protect her against certain 
philosophical teachings at college.) 

There is no problem more difficult and complicated than that 
of the Freedom of the Will. There are many large treatises on 
the subject both from the metaphysical and from the experimental 
point of view. Your young man lecturer seems to take the posi- 
tion of Emanuel Kant. Kant's fundamental position on conscious- 
ness is sound; but in the way he followed it out in his Critique 
of Pure Reason, he denied not merely the freedom of the will 
but the possibility of objective knowledge to the reason. Having 
thus by pure philosophic process made shipwreck of the intel- 
lectual and moral nature of man (without the freedom of the 
will and responsibility there can be no moral nature), he tried 
to save the latter in his Critique of the Practical Reason, by 
setting up his Categorical Imperative, and the normative ideas of 
God, Liberty and Immortality. But there is a fallacy in all this. 
A man cannot hold one thing philosophically, and another morally. 
We cannot teach one way scientifically, and the contrary privately. 
Our mind will not permanently tolerate such a dualism. If you 
hold to your private view, you admit the impotence and the failure 
of your scientific method. If you maintain your scientific view, 
you cut away every honest and real foundation and cannot legiti- 
mately find a valid point of rest for your second position. This 
is a case where philosophically "No man can serve two masters." 
If the man is convinced by both elements in a contradiction, the 
only true course is to say: Here are two things contradictory 
to my mind. I must believe in a hidden and ulterior harmony 
in both, which I cannot now see ; or in some mistake in my reason- 
ing on the one or the other side; and therefore I do practically 
the best I can and wait for more light toward the solution. 

Otherwise there is a permanent dualism of principle in the 
mind which invalidates thought and either paralyzes or corrupts 
action. 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 245 

ON NEGATIVE THEOLOGY 

(A letter to his sister Emma while at College.) 
I am surprised at the nature of the books you will use. Instead 
of being largely philosophical, they are strictly theological, and 
will not give you the metaphysical training you so much desired 
in a college education. And — what is more important to me — 
the course is even more negative and rationalistic than I supposed. 
These works are all specialties in the line of theology, and 
I do not see where your philosophy comes in. They do 
not teach anything outside of criticism, and history, on a theo- 
logical theory which we Lutherans condemn from top to bottom. 
I know that Father would never have consented to my taking up 
such a theological course, even after I had gone through the 
university, much less when I began my college course. My own 
position is a little different. I feel that you have a right to 
examine into these teachings if you feel that you ought; but I 
also feel that it is not fair to the orthodox Bible truth that you 
should do so before you have given your mind an opportunity 
to examine the other and more positive side. In other words, 
it is right first to be well grounded in positive and orthodox 
teaching; and only then are you doing justice to the faith of 
the fathers. To take up the criticism of the orthodox, before you 
have studied the orthodox, is not fair to the latter. It is hearing 
only the one side, the side now popular and current ; and is re- 
versing the proper historical order. You will not hear both sides 

either at or at any other secular institution in the 

land, and you can hardly fail to be influenced by certain general 
ways of thinking and by the atmosphere in which the new spirit 
lives. The whole subject is strictly technical and one cannot 
weigh it judicially by a few years' college work on it, and yet 
one will hardly ibe able to escape the infectious spirit prevailing. 
One cannot argue with the Professors or take the opposite side 
because the greater weight of learning is against you. It is only 
if you are a thorough expert on the details, at first hand, that you 
can undertake argument with those whose knowledge of facts is 
so large and comprehensive, and whose theories are so plausible. 
I know, my dear sister, through what a conflict I passed for years 
before I reached my present position by honest conviction, and 
I know how many learned men in theology are miserable today 



246 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

because they are unable to come to conviction, and I would 
spare you the treading of the terrible path if I could. 

If you enter it, you will either have to go through your work 
perfunctorily and artificially, determined not to present the funda- 
mental issues to your mind and to remain orthodox at all costs ; 
or you will present issues and reach results in sympathy with your 
surroundings (and undermine your faith as you have held it) ; 
or you will have to fight your way through the thralldom and 
fascination and weight of learning of all your authorities and 
professors — a terrible undertaking; one which you are capable 
of, but which I do not see the use or value of, unless you expect 
to make theology your one single specialty. 

I cannot advise you what to do, not being on the ground or 
understanding the circumstances, nor would I feel authorized 
to say much to you in influencing you, except for the deep love 
I have for you as a brother. What you are to learn is what 
I am giving my life and strength and all the powers of my 
mind to antagonize; and it is my hope and prayer that these 
views will never take possession of the Church. I am not preju- 
diced against them, however, in so far as they are questions of 
fact, and my mind is fairly open to all evidence these men may 
be able to present. I have said enough. 



THE LUTHERAN CONCEPTION OF SALVATION 

Our trust is not salvation by science, and therefore we are 
against rationalism which sets man's own thinking above the truth 
of God. Our salvation is not by religious ceremony, and there- 
fore we are against ritualism, which externalizes the 'service of 
God into a sacred and passing show. 

Our salvation is not iby tumultuous feeling, and therefore we 
are against emotionalism which makes light of facts and history 
and centers all on passing currents in the soul. 

Our trust is not in salvation by meditation, and therefore we 
are against mysticism which raises the soul to God by an inner 
and poetic sight. 

These are extremes and one-sided. From them spring Sweden- 
borgianism, spiritualism, Christian Science, theosophy, occultism, 
and many of the superficial religions of the moment. 

Lutheranism clings to God's Written Word. Her motto is the 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 247 

Word of God, the whole Word of God, and nothing but the 
Word of God, not as a prescriptive letter, but as the power of 
God unto salvation. 

In the law and the prophets, in the Gospels and Epistles, we 
find one mighty principle, the man who can stand before God 
and live, the man who is counted just in His sight, so to say 
the good man, is so by faith only. He is saved by his confidence 
in that which he finds in the written Word of God, by his trust 
in the blood of Jesus Christ which cleanseth us from all sin. 



ON CONFESSIONALISM 

In a letter, dated November 23, 1907, he writes : The difference 
between the Confessions of the Church and modern and up-to- 
date personal confessions is this, that the great confessions of 
the Church were born out of the heart of the Church's history, 
are a fruitage of the travail of the human race, and are a precious 
possession given to us by the Providence of God. Such confes- 
sions are only possible in great epochs of faith, like the Refor- 
mation, and not in mere critical epochs, such as our own Twentieth 
Century. 

The Lutheran Church can never survive unless she takes the 
ground that Confessionalism is the Church providentially guided 
to put the Bible into a nut-shell in order to guide the faith of 
her children; and that this guidance is as necessary today as ever. 
Too much is made of the thought that the old Confessions are 
not final. They are final so far as they go, that is so far as 
their doctrines are concerned. The important thing about any 
confession is its doctrine, and not its form. We must not give 
our rising generation the idea that the old Confessions are not 
final. They are final, until God in His Providence raises up a 
mighty and terrible spiritual epoch, in which a new confession 
will be, not written by the hand of man, Ibut born out of the 
heart of history. And this new Confession will be but a re- 
echoing of the old truths in a certain sense. The Confession is 
more powerful for ecclesiastical use than the Scripture itself. 
The Scripture is like a field of wheat. It is sown promiscuously 
into all kinds of ground into the fields of history. The Confes- 
sion is the kernels gathered together, ground into flour, and put 
into a loaf of bread. In other words, confessions are the vital 



248 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

principles of truth separated from the historical Scriptural en- 
vironment in which they have sprung up. The Church's con- 
fession is as important to it as the individual's Confession of the 
Lord Jesus is important to him. Confessions are Scripture 
assimilated, and ready for the production of new strength. Now 
to regard them simply as human is doing them an injustice. It 
is to put all stress on the assimilating process, which is human, 
IbuUnecessary, and it is to ignore the divine elements which fur- 
nish the strength of that assimilation. 

There are only two roads possible to a great Church, the 
one is the road of opportunism; and the other is the road of 
principle. Opportunism magnifies organization, and other outer 
facts. Confessionalism magnifies the real substance of the Word 
of God. 

It is true that we must guard against hyper-confessionalism. 
But there is very little danger of that today. Half a century 
ago, when Dr. Krauth was in his prime, that danger was to be 
reckoned with. But the pendulum has swung to the other side 
since then, and we must similarly realize that which will meet 
the opposite danger. 



LUTHER AND THE NEW THEOLOGY 

Luther was not a lawyer, and was not drawn to the decrees 
of God. Luther was not a judge, and was not inclined to the 
abstract truths of God. Luther was not an artist and was not 
affected by the imaginative and scenic side of faith, in which 
salvation is portrayed as a subjective thing, as ideal as a painted 
ship upon a painted ocean. 

Luther was not a society man, and did not regard the Church 
as an institute for the development of social values. 

Luther was not a reform man, reform being the exception 
and not the happy habitus of his life. Luther was not a mystic, 
but Luther was an honest, humble-hearted sinner, sinking under 
the inner burdens of conscience, and needing and finding the Son 
of God to set him on his feet and restore his peace. In Christ he 
found everything, and his heart was at rest. 

Luther was the heart-man. He was the man of reality, of 
trust and confidence, of the great elemental common precious 
things of life. Therefore Lutheranism has a faith that appeals 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 249 

to the home feeling and goes straight to the heart, like the old 
song "Home Sweet Home," with no one-sided or fanatical, but 
with a healthy, emotion. 

The Lutheran Gospel is the Gospel of salvation, and therein 
we differ from the new theology. The new theology is a modern 
paganism which glorifies the existing goodness of human nature 
(and believes in its ultimate perfect evolution). 

The new theology rises (beyond the authority of Scripture, and 
declares that philosophy and science have given the final concep- 
tion of the universe. Scripture is not the only rule of faith, 
it is not a direct revelation, (and its ethical and religious value 
are just as strong after its historical character is disproven) . 

The new theology sets aside the doctrine that Christ is our 
propitiation and that we are saved through the blood of Christ. 
To it divinity is of the essence of all humanity, and all humanity's 
greatest thinkers are inspired. 

It urges that instead of trying to believe that we are lost sin- 
ners, we should (at once, without repentance) realize that we 
are the children of God, and that this child-like relation is the 
essence of all religion. 

The new theology declares that if we have done wrong, we 
shall resolve to do right, and God will receive us. It does not 
believe that there is no other name under heaven than the name 
of Jesus whereby men may be saved, but it believes that the good 
God (who is the Father of us all), has put some good into every 
heart, and that if we give this good, which was born in us, a 
chance, we shall be saved. 

The new theology follows Erasmus and not Luther. It does not 
say, 

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit." 

Its chief prayer is not, "Create in me a clean heart, O God. 
Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit 
from me." 



ON PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATISM 
(In reply to a letter requesting an opinion on "Progressive Con- 
servatism in the Lutheran Church," he writes on October 25, 
1912) : 
A progressive conservatism seeks that which is of value, that 



250 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

which is specific and distinctive in its own root, and strives to 
develop it to flourish in growth along the lines of its own divinely- 
ordered life. 

If conservatism has become too fossilized and degenerated, it 
may be necessary to graft a more vigorous shoot in the old stock, 
but it should be a shoot of the same species, and should look to 
the bringing forth of its own perfections, and not to an imitation 
of the perfections which are found in other species of spiritual 
vitality. 

The Lutheran Church will never grow as long as we are 
looking for our progressiveness to what others outside of us 
are doing and are using up our strength in adopting their devices 
and in imitating them. We shall never be able to reproduce 
their finest fruit or flower, and we shall be depreciating and failing 
to give attention to our own. 

Let us take the strong elements and qualities and character of 
faith and life that inhere in our own Gospel, in our own confes- 
sion, and in our own Church; let us plant this seed without doubt. 
Let us be assured that it is the richest, the strongest, and the 
most genuine Christianity in the world. Let us labor patiently 
to keep the soil cultivated, to prune the trees, to keep them free 
from all parasitic and other destroyers, and our own inherent 
vitality will assert itself and bring forth splendid results. 

Progressive conservatism is the application of our own treasures 
in an up-to-date way, to the problems of the Kingdom of God 
and of the life about us. This application should not be anti- 
quated, but should be vigorous and enlightened. It should begin 
with that which is nearest at home to us, in the greater issues 
of faith and life, within our own congregation, and should only 
be extended outward as we gather a sufficiency of internal strength 
to gradually assume the larger and larger burdens of the greater 
world beyond. 

In this view I am in direct conflict with the Modern American 
religious spirit, which will assume to itself all the problems of 
God's Kingdom and society in the heavens above, in the earth 
beneath and in the waters under the earth, and will pass resolu- 
tions attacking them all, and institute energies touching them all, 
but thoroughly disposing of none of them. 

In my judgment the Church, like the individual, has the duty 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 251 

of refusing to do good; if, thereby, she is kept in a swamped 
and over-weighted condition, and is unable to do any effective 
good anywhere. 

It is our duty to select that which is most important and most 
pressing and to keep on selecting up to the full limits of our 
strength, and when we have once removed a burden, to keep on 
continuously and never cease until we have disposed of it victo- 
riously, and meantime, as strength accumulates, taking on new 
loads of responsibility. 

It is also our duty to leave many fields of endeavor absolutely 
untouched, on our part, and until we are able to support the new 
growth which we have induced. To call up new growths on every 
side is progress indeed ; but to let them perish as soon as the 
heat of the day begins to be felt, is worse than not to have 
attempted so large a task. 



ON LUTHERAN UNION 

(The following questions submitted to him in 1916 were an- 
swered as follows) : 

Question I. — Do you think there are any doctrinal barriers, 
sufficient to make organic co-operation between the general 
body of which you are a member, and the other Synodical bodies 
in the following list, impossible: General Council, United Synod 
of the South, German Iowa Synod, Joint Synod of Ohio, General 
Synod? 

It is my belief that there are no such impossible doctrinal bar- 
riers. The chief impediments, to my mind, are those that arise 
from other sources: 

1. From practices in the various bodies which are inconsistent 
with the doctrine which the bodies profess; 

2. From a failure to speak right and judge generously of those 
outside of ourselves ; 

3. From a narrow desire to put one's own Synod or General 
Body before the welfare of the Church as a whole; that is, from 
the habit of interpreting the life, work, and progress of the 
Church in the terms of one's own organization. 

Question 2. — Is the time ripe for such organic federation? 
Would you welcome a movement in that direction? 
I do not believe in federation. Federation is no solution. Its 



252 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

aim is to continue the independence of each separate unit with 
only a nominal general alliance. 

The time is ripe for actual co-operation of the various General 
Bodies with each other along all lines in which the practical 
works of the Church are being carried out through parallel organi- 
zations that are willing to co-operate, e. g., Missions, Home and 
Foreign, Publications, etc., etc. 

Question 3. — What should be the functions and scope of action 
of such a general body? In other words, what should such 
"organic co-operation" amount to? 

I do not think that the start should be made by organizing a 
new General Body, but that a standing joint committee should be 
appointed to investigate the facts in each department of activity, 
and, in consultation with the various boards representing these 
activities, should recommend what steps of co-operation are pos- 
sible in the immediate future, and what further steps will be 
possible in a few years to come. Thus the work of the Church 
should be knit together along the lines of the most promising 
possibilities, and where there is least resistance, with a growing 
unity step by step, and looking toward a larger and final unity. 

This final unity should not be pushed, but should at any given 
time, embrace such conjoint activities to the extent to which, 
and not further, each particular sphere is willing to< join in with 
other spheres in the other bodies. 

After this work has been inaugurated and has been growing, 
at some favoralble season, the general bodies should hold a regu- 
larly elected delegate convention, to organize a final general body 
which, in the beginning, would take over only such functions 
as have already become organically united in practice. 

This is the experimental and practical method of attaining 
Church unity, starting from the concrete and growing naturally 
toward the general. I am satisfied that by the use of this method 
a united Lutheran Church will become an actual and effective 
fact in this country long before it could be reached by a theoreti- 
cal construction begun through the immediate organization of a 
tentative general body. I do not believe that Federation will 
ever arrive at unity. 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 253 

ON LUTHERAN PULPITS FOR LUTHERAN MINISTERS 

(When asked his opinion about the Galesburg Rule by a Luth- 
eran pastor, he writes, February 24, 1917, as follows) : 

We must toe careful not to degenerate into undue emphasis 
upon mere mechanical dogmatic rule on external decisions. 

I do not believe that any Conference does its duty if it merely 
passes a rule on the subject and does not systematically attempt 
to reach the conviction of the people by a plan of instruction which 
will give the laity as well as the clergy the right conscience on 
the subject. 

In general, for an officer of the church, or a Conference, or a 
minister, to enforce any rule on the Church without first making 
a serious attempt to enlighten the minds and gain the convictions 
and consciences of the people in behalf of that rule, is a legalistic, 
Reformed, and not a Lutheran, principle. To carry the laity with 
you in your convictions involves a vast amount of labor and 
patience, and less radical methods, but it not only pays in the 
end, it is also the right principle. 

It seems to me that the keynote of our position is that we 
hold to the Lutheran principle including the Four Points just 
as strongly as they (Ohio and Missouri) do, but that we do not 
approve of a legalistic method of enforcing our position, because 

1. It is a matter of unenlightened conscience. Three of the 
Four Points are nowhere taught in so many words in Scripture. 
They are not revealed in clear specific passages, such as are the 
doctrine of the Resurrection, the doctrine of the forgiveness of 
sins, etc. They are legitimate deductions from Scripture, but 
still deductions, and it requires much training, insight, and many 
other qualities, to enable a mind which is sympathetically and 
broadly constituted by nature to assume so firm a position. 

2. The day of categorical assertion, with simple obedience 
thereunto by the laity, is gone. The day of the closed mind in 
religion is gone. Dr. Loy had such a closed mind, and it is a 
type characteristic of both Ohio and Missouri. All things in 
heaven and earth are fixed and settled in iron framework. It is 
the duty of the faithful simply to be obedient thereunto. Investi- 
gation for one's self, and the toilsome process of arriving at a 
conviction of the truth by considering the force of the opposite 



254 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

side, is not a method for which these people leave much place. 
Yet this is the American method. 

Doctrine and truth must stand on their merits, and not on the 
assertion of the pastor or of the Church. The old German the- 
ory of obedience to authority cannot be successfully maintained 
as a permanent thing. We must not only tolerate, but we must 
welcome intellectual openness. As a conclusion from this it 
follows that we must not hurriedly close the doors against those 
who are uncertain, who are eager to be in the right, but who do 
not yet see the right as we see it. 

3. The legalistic attitude, through which Church discipline is 
put theoretically on the same level as the preaching of the Gospel 
is one that cannot but result in the end in the subverting of the 
Gospel and in the prevalence of pharisaism. 



(In another letter to a Lutheran pastor he writes on August 27, 
1914) : 

Life is larger than logic, and God is greater than man. Hence 
man has no right to press his logic on others by force, and the 
Church must not devote herself chiefly to police acts of repression. 
The Word of God gives us inspired principles and some inspired 
rules. 

But a rule which has human logic in it, that is, which is an 
inference from inspired principle, still retains some possibility of 
error, especially as to its form and application. It is really 
rationalism to back up such a rule by the force of the Kingdom 
of God. We may feel sure that we are right, and we may be 
almost right, and still be lacking the divine sanction for the use 
of force. 

God's Church will never prevail, and the world will never be 
saved, through discipline, and as soon as it becomes the prevailing 
spirit, we are on the wrong track. Yet discipline ought and must 
be exercised by the Church, but not as a rule, but only as the 
last and extreme resort. And discipline cannot be exercised on 
the basis of canons or rules that are laid down by the leaders 
but only as the universal conviction and consciousness of the 
Church responds to their ripeness. 

You cannot legislate Gospel convictions into the people, and 
you cannot discipline on the basis of those convictions where they 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 255 

do not exist, without laying yourself open to autocracy, and in 
some cases to hypocrisy. But where, through education, real con- 
viction has been brought about, there there will be least need 
for discipline, and if its need should occur, it should be exercised 
promptly and fully. 

Our "educational" position is correct, but our weakness lies in 
this : that where discipline really ought be carried out, e. g., in 
gross and open sin, we fail to do so. I am inclined to think 
that Missouri herself often fails similarly. 

But if we were able to show that where our convictions un- 
doubtedly are at one, there discipline would be effectively carried 
out, our position would be impregnable. 

At a conference of German synods in the United Lutheran 
Church in 1917 he said: "No union of the Lutheran Church will 
ever take place if the 'Four Points' (Galesburg Rule) are made 
the condition upon which it is to be based. The child of union 
was killed before it (the General Council) was born when the 
Four Points came into discussion." 

ON LUTHERAN DISUNITY 

The plain, bare and painful fact is that there is no Lutheran 
Church in this country, which can as such deal with itself or 
with others. We are not a United States, but a let of South 
American republics. Before we get at least some treaty relations 
between ourselves, we cannot act as a unit toward others. Our 
internal disability makes any proposed external effort superficial, 
presumptuous, and even dishonorable. 

As a business proposition, we have not even a paper capitaliza- 
tion. In business I do not believe in going in beyond the limits 
of proper capitalization. In religion we must not over-capitalize 
the confidence of the Church beyond what we have fair reason 
to believe is the limit of our backing. Many a business man must 
leave tremendous opportunities go by because his capital ability is 
so small that his venture would be almost purely speculative. If 
he goes beyond, he is a gambler. 

This brings us to the question, What amount of confidence have 
we as our backing? How will the Church ultimately support us? 
In the rapid shifts of today, this is a great problem. Outside 
the merger, can we command Joint Synod of Ohio, Norway and 



256 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

Iowa? We cannot on this issue in any other focus than the 
men of the National Committee. If they give their affirmative 
judgment, I am willing to take the risk. If they do not, we will 
not fairly represent Lutheranism to an American public. We 
represent only a minority. And, at 'this moment (i. e. until the 
end of June), it is uncertain how much capital even the small 
United Church will represent. 

In other words, to me it seems our main and intensive problem 
is the internal one, the getting of sufficient confidence capital to 
honestly and honorably entitle us to represent Lutheranism be- 
fore the outside world. If we have only a comparative minority 
iback of us, we dare not in conscience move as the representatives 
of the whole or the large majority. However painful and paralyz- 
ing it is to our cause, honor compels us to admit that Lutheranism 
is nothing in a unity sense, that we must mend ourselves, before 
we appear before others. We have succeeded in the mending in 
the soldiers and sailors cause, but that cause is more compelling 
in moving the whole heart of the Church, than are any of the 
permanent issues. If we can use that one point to draw in and 
convert strength for our more regular issues, we can act also 
with respect to them, we can move. But if not, we are mere 
opportunists, adventurers, and take a gambler's risk, and we shall 
come to grief. 

Here is my difficulty. We must put ourselves in a position to 
be able to deliver the goods, before we enter into contract to fur- 
nish it to< outsiders. Righteousness is here at stake. Power with- 
out righteousness is not permanent, and will ruin our American 
principle. 



ON THE LODGE AND PULPIT-FELLOWSHIP 
{The following statement was submitted by Dr. Schmauk to a 
committee of the National Lutheran Council in 1920.) 

1. The attaching one's self to any life-brotherhood outside of 
the brotherhood in Christ with principles and rules of obedience 
which may or may not be in conflict with the Church of Christ, 
but which operates independently of it, sets up a divided allegiance. 
Our Saviour said emphatically, "No man can serve two mas- 
ters" ; and it is especially true of the minister, who is under 
solemn vow to obey Christ alone, and who is the official repre- 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 257 

sentative of the Church of Christ in all relations, that there are 
many situations which will divide his allegiance. A whole-souled 
loyalty to two life-covenants, each claiming to be supreme in any 
field, even though neither in itself be harmful, is impossible. 

2. Secret and selective organizations of a few among the 
many is un-American, and is a relic of Old World and aristocratic 
mediaevalism. America stands for openness and publicity in all 
associative action and for equality in fraternity. The Gospel 
itself breaks down walls of special partition in the brotherhood 
of men. Fraternity in special privilege, especially when combined 
with secrecy of direction and the hidden use of influence, is against 
the spirit of democracy, which stands on public and open merit. 
The world is today seeking to rid itself of covenants, cabals, 
treaties, and brotherhoods that operate by private and secret un- 
derstanding, that block square deals without assigning the reason 
why, that do not open the door of opportunity freely and equally 
to every one of merit wheresoever he may be found, and that cul- 
tivate the habit and attitude of planning and acting without public 
revelation of purpose. 

If a minister be united in a special selective and secret brother- 
hood with a few of the members of his congregation in this 
brotherhood, while the great majority, including women and chil- 
dren, are outside of it, it will be well-nigh impossible for him 
to follow and apply the common principles of Christianity on the 
common and American ground of equal privileges and responsibili- 
ties for all, to every member in his congregation. 

Please note that the term "secrecy" comes from the Latin 
secernere, to put apart, to separate. The fundamental idea is 
to shut out the common brotherhood of man, to keep from it 
certain knowledge and purposes, and to give to selected ones the 
special privileges of an exclusive fraternity. This is consonant 
neither with the principles of the Gospel nor with those of the 
American people. 

I think, too, that if the Lutheran Church takes a position that 
in general its fellowship in pulpit and altar is not for non- 
Lutherans, that that fact in itself has a direct bearing on the 
principle of secret societies. Not only non-Lutherans, but Unita- 
rians, Jews, and non-Christians, are admitted to membership and 
participation in the religious fellowship and burial of these 
R 



258 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

societies. Any organization that claims the right to bury a man 
with its own rite which is outside of, even if not contradictory to, 
the rite of the Christian Church, predicates a fellowship of faith 
and eternal life which is different from that of Christianity in 
our pulpits and at our altars, and we cannot in consistency refuse 
to draw those lines also at the grave. 



ON UN-CHRISTIAN SOCIETIES 

Any association or society which has religious exercises from 
which the name of the Triune God or the name of Jesus, as a 
matter of principle, is excluded, or which teaches salvation 
through works, must, according to Holy Scripture, be regarded 
as in its very nature incompatible with the faith and confession 
of the Christian Church and more especially the Lutheran 
Church, whether this be realized or not. 



ON CO-OPERATION 

1. There is no point of doctrine involved in membership in the 
American Bible Society. The Bilble is a common heritage of 
Christianity, and it is a good thing for Lutherans to aid in its 
common distribution. To do so is as little wrong for a Lutheran 
as it is for the Lutheran Church to make use of the King James 
version in her services. 

2. Membership in a company of Bible revisers stands on the 
same grounds, though, if the said company of revisers should 
insist on translating such a passage as "This is my body," by 
"This is an emblem of my body," a point of doctrine would be 
involved in the co-operation. 

3. There is no point of doctrine involved in attendance on 
any higher educational school, whether it be a college, a university, 
or summer school, so long as the public impartation of religious 
truth be not one of its objects. The Pennsylvania Chautauqua, 
for instance, especially in its earlier days, was a summer school 
of this type. It was, we believe, the only institution of the kind 
in the country which did not adopt the principles of the Mother 
Chautauqua, and had no dependence upon it. That it did not 
originate as a mild type of religious camp-meeting, with union 
religious meetings and some educational institution thrown in, 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 259 

is due prolbably to the efforts of the writer more than to any 
one else. In order to prevent an institution of this kind from 
becoming a religious pleasure resort in the heart of Lutheran 
Lancaster and Lebanon counties, the writer went into the move- 
ment in its incipiency, and, at the rime of his resignation was 
probably the only one of the first originators still actively inter- 
ested. The institution was carried on strictly as a school for some 
years, with the heads of the public school system of the State of 
Pennsylvania in close official touch with it ; and, even at present, 
we believe, the institution is a part of the public school system 
of the state, receiving an appropriation of several thousand dollars 
a year from the State Treasury as one of the state's educational 
institutions. The writer has not been connected with this insti- 
tution for many years, to the unanimous regret (so they said) 
of the Chautauquans, and resigned partly because he found that 
his name on the letter head of the blanks of this institution, and 
his official contact with men of all kinds of religious convictions 
from an agnostic like John Fiske and evolutionists like Lyman 
Abbott on the one hand, to Roman Catholic priests on the other, 
was so liable to be misunderstood as a religious endorsement, and 
made such great demands on his time to prevent a religious com- 
promise on his part, that he considered it safe, as a Lutheran, since 
the institution was no longer in a situation to affect the contiguous 
territory in a religious way to resign his connection. In this he 
was supported by the word of his friend, Dr. Trumbull, who 
himself also on very different grounds always declined to notice 
any of the Chautauqua movements in this country. That word 
was that "there is a duty of refusing to do good." 

4. There is no point of doctrine involved in attendance or par- 
ticipation in a common service at sea, at a hotel on a night too 
stormy to venture forth to places of worship, or at any point 
where participation would not naturally be understood, or be 
taken advantage of by any others' as an acceptance and endorse- 
ment, and where the situation is a temporary one. Of course 
there may very easily be a compromise here. The writer does 
not believe that he could, as a Lutheran, participate in such an 
institution as Northfield, because it is the center of a prevailing 
type of religion, and of many new expounders of new religious 
types, which as a Lutheran he would probably not be alble to 



260 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

endorse. While probably he could not participate in the move- 
ment, it might be proper for him to attend the meetings. 

5. Lack of participation does not involve any personal dis- 
respect, nor necessarily condemnation. In particular it does not 
involve condemnation of any part of common faith. 

6. Individual attendance is a different thing from clerical 
participation, especially in cases where denominations are apt to 
presume a complete unity in the brotherhood, and to assume the 
other's official recognition. 



DANGERS TO THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN CO- 
OPERATING WITH REVIVAL MOVEMENTS 

1. The revivalist slurs the Church as corrupt, and church 
members as hypocrites. The pious, humble-minded, devout, meek 
worshipers, who are well-pleasing in Christ's eye for their in- 
conspicuousness and fidelity, are discounted, and the agitator is 
set on a pedestal. 

2. The true spiritual method of regularly sowing the seed of 
God's Word in the heart, and allowing it to grow graciously and 
gradually, is discounted in favor of volcanic upheaval. 

3. Not only is reverence for sacred things destroyed, but the 
taste for modesty, purity, and refinement are set in the back- 
ground. The dramatic staging and imagery of the saloon, ibrothel 
and the horsemarket are set before school children as vehicles of 
religious instruction. 

4. The Lutheran doctrines of both Sacraments are completely 
ignored. 

5. The Lutheran method of catechetical instruction, and 
Christian nurture in general, is ignored. 

6. The Lutheran doctrine of ordination, and especially the 
Lutheran teaching of pulpit fellowship, and the general teaching 
of the Church order in the ministry, is ignored. The sanction, 
guarantee and call of a revivalist is in his success, and not in his 
relation to pure doctrine and the Word of God. 

7. A minister who joins honestly in a union movement would 
have to admit the evangelist or revivalist into his own pulpit, and 
allow him to partake of the Lord's Supper. He would thereby 
be eliminating everything distinctive for which the Lutheran 
Church stands. 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 261 

8. Lutheran people get accustomed to hearing the liturgy of 
their service and all ritual condemned and abused. 

9. Lutheran people acquire a distaste for the regular preach- 
ing of the Word of God, and for services that are devout but 
not sensational. They neglect their regular duties and regular 
giving in favor of these extraordinary efforts. By joining in 
these union movements the Lutheran Church endorses and abets 
the preaching of the worst errors and even of heresies on the 
part of irresponsible evangelists, such as salvation by character, 
and as confusing the descent of the Holy Spirit with mob in- 
stinct and emotional craziness. Lutherans cannot have fellowship 
with errorists. 

10. The Lutheran Church has a terrible example behind it, 
which has set it back for two generations, which split the Luth- 
eran Church into two, and created untold woe, in the support of 
union movements and revivals given by part of the Lutheran 
Church in 1837 and later. The General Synod has only in these 
last years ibeen recovering from the mistake which she then made 
in entering into union movements. 

11. The Lutheran Church has never gained from such move- 
ments. In union movements converts to Christianity are made on 
a very slender basis. Usually walking down the sawdust trail, 
or shaking hands, completes the transaction. Many of the people 
who are thus heralded as converts are excited and misinformed 
church members. Nearly all of the reported gains which are 
turned over to Lutheran pastors from such movements are found 
to be composed of people in their own church who have been 
caught by the revival feeling, and who, though they may have 
been good Christians all their life, stand up to be prayed for, 
or go front to the altar to be saved. 

12. The Lutheran Church cannot preserve her distinctive doc- 
trines and being, and yet enter heartily into revivals inaugurated 
by the Reformed type of Christianity. If we are impeding the 
cause of Christ by not entering into these revivals, the question 
arises whether we are not impeding the cause of Christ by main- 
taining a distinct denominational existence. If the Lutheran way of 
salvation by the pure preaching of the Word of God, and the use of 
the sacraments, is not the right way, or not efficient, then the ques- 
tion is a much larger one than merely entering into union move- 



262 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

ments. Far us to enter into union movements is to confess the 
failure of Lutheranism. 

13. Union movements of the day are really an invasion of 
business and of the layman into the province of the ministry 
and the church in the belief that he has principles which are 
better than the old-fashioned proclamation of God's Word. It 
is a part of the democratic socialization of the age, and rests on 
an indifference to God's pure doctrine and a disregard of proper 
order or authority in the church. — (Probably written in 1915.) 



THE LUTHERAN CHURCH AND EXTERNAL 
RELATIONSHIPS 

(In 1907, when the question of union and co-operation among Lutherans 
was discussed, the writer had requested theses from Dr. Schmauk on 
the still larger question of the Church's relationship to non-Lutheran 
communions, for publication in The Lutheran. Eighty-three such theses 
were prepared by him; but he later considered them to be of such im- 
portance as to need careful revision. The promised revision^ was not 
made. When The United Lutheran Church was formed, the writer called 
Dr. Knubel's attention to those theses as being of value in helping to 
shape the new body's policy in its relation to the much-mooted questions 
of interdenominational union and co-operation. Correspondence with Dr. 
Schmauk resulted in the enlargement and revision of the Theses. They 
set forth what he conceived to be a correct and safe attitude on this im- 
portant question, the main portion of which is herewith given.) 

STAGES OF PARTICIPATION IN THE COMMON WELFARE 

1. Neighborliness 

This, according to the Gospel involves love; such love as the 
Father has for all when He makes His sun to shine on the just 
and unjust, and as Christ manifests to all in his relations, even to 
those who were opposed to Him. It involves the expression of 
good-will, but does not imply anything as to the approval of 
either the principles, the character, or the action of our fellowmen. 
Most particularly it also involves help to our neighbor, no matter 
what his faith or character, in special time of need. 
2. Intercourse. 

(a). Formal. This involves recognition on the basis of a 
common humanity which we meet, even if our paths cross, and 
does not involve either recognition or endorsement of any particu- 
lar claims advanced by our neighbor. 

(b). Informal. This involves sympathy, without special obli- 
gations, (but to be felt and manifested wherever it is possible so 
to do. 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 263 

3. Dealings 

Here there is a common act, usually an exchange of values, 
a transaction which is mutually satisfactory, which is complete 
and final in itself, and entails no consequences or obligations for 
the future, but which is of help to each, that is, of common benefit 
to both parties. It does not commit either party to any principle 
or transaction outside of that involved in the dealing. Dealings 
may lead to common, unformulated understandings, and to many 
customs of helpfulness which, however, neither party is in honor 
bound to continue to maintain, but each party is free to break 
off whenever he believes or finds it to be to his advantage to do 
so. This is the essence of business relations, and is well under- 
stood and universally practiced by business men of honor without 
special difficulty or danger of being involved in misunderstandings. 
4. Covenants 

Covenants are a mutual agreement extended into a long time 
future in virtue of which each party agrees to be and to act 
towards the other as is stipulated in the basal articles of the 
understanding. The sanction of a covenant may be some element 
of force, or it may rest upon the abiding trust in the integrity 
each of the other. 

5. Co-operation 

Co-operation is mutually supporting action along lines of policy 
of which each party approves, and the goal of which both par- 
ties desire to see attained. The co-operation may be along spe- 
cially and mutually agreed on and understood lines, or it may be 
of a more general character. There is some danger in a general 
understanding of co-operation in that one or the other party 
may innocently or wilfully presume on the aid, sympathy, or use 
of the name and good will of the other without the full consent 
of the other. It is safe to exercise care in arriving at an under- 
standing and in sufficient delimitation before committing oneself 
to general co-operation. 

6. Alliances 

Alliance is the lining up of the forces of each or all parties 
toward specifically mentioned ends. There is no intention here 
of touching, altering, or modifying the individualty of any of 
the participants, but the agreement is to engage in a common 
undertaking which, without compromising anything outside of that 



264 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

undertaking, will secure common action toward the mutually 
desired end. Alliances are frequently offensive and defensive. 
They may be entered into for the purpose of suppressing or de- 
stroying a common foe, or for the purpose of building up and 
constructing a common good. 

7. Union 

Union is a permanent and general alliance on all the greater 
matters in any sphere of activity, which, however, will take suf- 
ficient care to continue to guard the individuality of each of the 
participants. In the larger matters of common danger and some- 
times of a common progress, the individual will have to yield 
certain rights to the whole; but this yielding can never be carried 
so far as to destroy the individuality of the parts. The United 
States, composed of many individuals, is a rich illustration of 
the nature of union. 

8. Fellowship 

Fellowship involves not only all the lower and preceding stages 
just mentioned, but the propriety and willingness of each indi- 
vidual to give over his full self, principles, feelings and desires, 
to the other, in a close intimacy of association which practically 
identifies the one with the other in the public eye, and which 
causes each individual to feel and say of the other "We are 
one." Fellowship, by its very nature, and if the right of self- 
determination of personalities of persons and peoples foe granted, 
can never become universal. There must be neighborliness, there 
should be intercourse, there may be dealings and co-operation, 
there may be covenants and alliances, but fellowship is of the inner 
and the soul-life and by its very nature partakes of the more per- 
sonal and private relationships. A limited co-operation is just, 
but fellowship, by reason of the extent of the identification of 
each with the other, cannot justly be regarded as necessarily 
universal. 

The basis of fellowship rests on brotherhood, but it is distin- 
guished from ibrotherhood in that it is a conscious appropriation 
and exercise of the latent unities that exist in brotherhood in 
the joyous knowledge of a complete harmony and identity of 
trust. It has potencies of brotherhood, self-chosen, mutually 
reciprocated, and carried into all the walks of inner and outer life. 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 265 

9. Unity 

Unity is indivisibleness. It is a oneness of constituent parts 
running through and binding all (however diverse in quality) 
to singleness of purpose, plan and activity. It is the spontaneous 
and yet necessary co-operation of all the members on the basis 
of a fundamental and dominating principle which results not 
only in organic harmony of existence, but in a singleness of out- 
ward action. Communion is a conscious and happy participation 
of our inner life in unity. 

10. Communion 

Communion is more than union and more than fellowship. It 
is union intensified into active fellowship. But the fellowship is 
not a mere subjective participation of feelings, taste or conviction 
in the common life of another. It is a fellowship arising out of 
an objective ground provided by our Lord Jesus Christ in His 
redemption, constituting its participants into a special brotherhood, 
into which they are called by the Gospel. In it they are taken 
up into the brotherhood of the body of Christ, and in it they 
participate in the Holy Communion in receiving that real body. 
It is a brotherhood, not of feeling, or of subjective intellectual 
faith, or even of a common conviction, but it is a brotherhood in 
the life and death of Christ as shared out to us in His Word 
and in the communication of His own body, which, so far as it 
is a visible act, becomes a distinguishing mark of brotherhood. 

It is more than fellowship because it is not a fellowship on the 
ground of a common feeling or faith, but a feeling on the ground 
of a common brotherhood in Christ given to us in a common 
Word, and renewed, maintained and manifested in a common 
participation in the actual body of Christ. 

Communion is union intensified. It is not merely an occasional 
sharing of one's self or one's feelings in a common and voluntary 
association of brotherhood, but it is an identification of our 
whole life with the life of another in and through our brotherhood 
in Christ. It is a life fellowship on the basis of the greatest of 
life realities. In Communion we give to and receive our whole 
selves from another, viz., Christ, in and through what He gives 
to us, and on this ground we give and receive ourselves to and 
from each other. It is not merely a sharing of life convictions, 
not a mere life fellowship, but it is Christ Himself, drawing us as 



266 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

members of His brotherhood, into the fellowship of that which 
He offers as the ground of our unity with each other. 

Hence a communion is a body of persons united on a common 
principle, viz., Christ, and in fellowship by reason of community 
of faith, love, hope, and all other spiritual interests. A Com- 
munion in the Lutheran sense, is a body of believers bound to 
each other in Christ, that is in the common bond of the pure 
Word and Sacrament, and in a fellowship in the same. The 
supreme act and visible proof and test of this fellowship is a 
common participation in the fruits of Christ's atoning redemption 
as offered and received in the real body of Christ in the Lord's 
Supper. A Communion is a special type of brotherhood united 
in the fraternal bonds that issue from their common origin and 
that exercise themselves in common forms under the impetus of 
their unity. 

THE COMMON GROUND 

(1) Many devoted and sincere Christians that we know are 
not Lutherans; and many more have never heard of Lutheranism. 
There are two extremes in dealing with these multitudes. The 
one extreme will have nothing whatever of any kind to do with 
them, will make no attempt to recognize or to co-operate even 
with that which is common; the other extreme will extend the 
hand of most intimate fellowship and take into its bosom person- 
alities who are exponents of principles) which are radically 
divergent from those on which their own faith and life is founded. 

(2) There is a common ground for all Christians in Christ. 
Those whom Christ recognizes, despite their errors and imper- 
fections, are already one with us in Christ. They may not be one 
with us in mind and faith, they may not be one with us in those 
particular parts of our mind and faith which we feel divinely 
called to stand for and exposit, and hence we may be unalble to 
feel and say that they are in a common brotherhood of faith 
because we earnestly believe that, although Christ can receive 
them as they are unto Himself without danger to His truth we 
cannot do so with the same safety. Christ can do all things. 
We must do in accordance with our convictions. 

(3) Nevertheless there is some actual agreement of all 
Christians. 

(4) There is also much disagreement among Christians. This 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 267 

is a necessary consequence of Protestantism. If the self-deter- 
mining rights of a people or a personality be conceded, we are 
thereby and in that act setting up a standard of individuality. 

(5) The differences of Christians, despite the self-determined 
right of individual Christians, are not pleasing to God. God wants 
every man to have his own honest conviction. Yet as a matter 
of fact the sum of convictions do not agree and they introduce 
schism. Just how to bring harmony of conviction on the one truth 
is the problem of the ages. 

(6) External union of Christians will not bring about that 
harmony. It will simply transfer the points of divisiveness to a 
place within the common circle. These points may then, indeed, 
through closer association be resolved into unity. This unity will 
be the unity of the most persistent wearing down of those who 
are more retiring and yielding. The Lutheran Church has suffered 
tremendously from such unities with other Protestants, particularly 
the more assertive and strident kind. Or, if they are exceeding 
keen and fundamental in the minds of those who hold them, 
they will lead to internal disunity and to final rupture. Hence the 
safe way of unifying Christianity is to gain internal union of 
principle which can then properly be expressed in an external 
union of organization. 

(7) The real union of Christians is a joining of the same mind 
in the same faith, and a fellowship in the life and work of the 
church. 

(8) There is now no such union, but there are some principles 
of Christianity common to all Christians. To suppress, or to 
ignore these common principles is to go ibeyond what our Lord 
has intended in the matter of divisiveness. The common ground, 
if it be sufficient, and if it can be de-limited from that which is 
not common, so as to avoid all misunderstandings, is to be used 
as a basis in limited co-operation. But as there is a living vitality 
in faith, and it is a vitally connected organism, a common ground 
abstracted by theory, as a partial entity, is a dangerous basis for 
co-operation or fellowship, without clear and strong safeguards. 

OF CO-OPERATION 

(1) There is a co-operation that affects doctrine as well as 
practice, and as doctrine or principle is precious in the sight of 
Lutherans, and its preservation a matter of great importance, 



268 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

the kind of co-operation here referred to must be decided on the 
basis of doctrine. 

(2) There is a co-operation that affects practice. Where such 
co-operation does not involve the implication of a common doc- 
trine, or where the common doctrine involved is held mutually 
by all participants, the problem of co-operation can readily be 
solved. 

03) Co-operation must be: (a) Orderly; (b) Consistent; (c) 
Avoiding internal weaknesses. If in a single transaction, it may 
ibe of the nature of business dealing. If in a continuous line of 
policy, it may be secured by a covenant relationship. 

(4) The importance, worthiness, or goodness of an object is 
not the sole determining factor in considering the advisability of 
co-operation. The method of co-operation also is important. 

(5) The method of participating in co-operation, or of abstain- 
ing from it, may condemn the participation, or the abstinence. 

(6) A good Object with a bad Method will probably develop 
bad features, and may bring on bad results. 

(7) It is easier to oppose co-operation in the bad that is all 
bad, than to oppose co-operation in the good that is mingled with 
some bad. Nevertheless, because of the delusiveness to many 
people who do not see the bad wrapped up in the heart of the 
good, to oppose a good mingled with bad may be as important 
as to oppose the totally bad. 

(8) Much good may be accomplished in this world by imper- 
fect efforts, or even efforts mingled with evil principles, in any 
earnest endeavor to overcome Satan and the power of darkness. 
And even where the Church be unable to associate itself with 
others "because of their erroneous principles" in these efforts, 
yet, since there is so much sin in the world, and so much. to be 
done for Christ's sake, the Church should not decry this good, 
nor waste her money and mayhap ruin her spirit of love by 
attacking these methods which she cannot approve. If, however, 
these efforts set themselves up in her own midst, as perfections, 
and as something better and higher than the efforts in which she 
trusts, in her own defence, in order to preserve her own in- 
tegrity and consistency, the Church's warning must be clear, 
strong, and in no uncertain tone. The more stern, and frank, 
and bold her defence of her own is, and the more clear her rebuke 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 269 

of unjustifiable presumption, at the start, the more kind and 
charitable will the action really be in the end. 

OF IMPROPER AND PROPER PARTICIPATION 

(1) Effective co-operation is not by one part or one individual 
acting independently of his Communion, who ignores the church 
that is behind him. A fundamental American principle is that 
a representative does not represent unless he is appointed. Indi- 
vidual co-operation, even where it is right and lawful, and where 
the communion's failure to join in is wrong, is attempting unity 
without introducing disloyalty and disunity within. The common tie 
binds the individual, so long as he remains within, on points on 
which the communion as a whole has taken a position. Disloyalty 
is a primal crime. The first duty of such an individual is to 
get the communion to see its wrong position. If he cannot do so, 
it becomes a matter of conscience with him as to whether he can, 
with his convictions, abide in the communion. For divisiveness 
caused by genuine conscience, he is entitled to honoralble separa- 
tion. If his conscience continues to permit him to act divisively 
and disloyally to his brotherhood, the brotherhood must make 
its position clear by testimony or by action. 

(2) A church, if it has a right to exist, has a right to stand for 
something, and be heard on the subject of co-operation, before 
being committed to it. It. has a right to appoint its representa- 
tives, and to expect them to represent it, rather than themselves. 

(3) True co-operation begins at home, and wins the nearest 
to itself. 

(4) A part of a church has rights of its own, when in a 
minority. It also respects the rights of others. 

(5) Where there is a community of brotherhood, fellowship and 
rights, true co-operation will precede action by consultation. 

(6) When a part of a church bears the honor of a common 
name, it will respect the common character for which it stands. 

PRINCIPLES PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO THE LUTHERAN CHURCH 

(1) Christianity is wider than Lutheranism. 

(2) Christianity is wider than inter-denominationalism. 

(3) Christianity is wider than Protestantism. 

(4) Protestantism (and inter-denominationalism) has its dan- 
gers as well as Catholicism. 



270 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

(5) A broad and consistent co-operation must be prepared to 
take in the good wherever found, whenever it can be done safely. 

(6) There are upright men outside of the Church. 

(7) Christians must be broad enough to co-operate (under 5) 
with such men whether in the Church or out of it. This point 
is an issue today. 

(8) The Lutheran Church is broad enough to do this. 

X9) The real principle of the Lutheran Church is the broadest 
possible ; and there is no more liberal principle in any church 
of deep and live convictions. 

(10) The principle is to support and co-operate with all good, 
wherever it may be, whenever possible. The rule is made prac- 
tical by making clear to all that this is not a unity of brotherhood, 
not a fellowship in brotherhood, but a common act of two entities, 
for a purpose common in both; and by then defining the nature, 
prescribing the just limits, making clear the purpose, and keeping 
clean and true the means and methods of the cooperation. 

(11) The principle is sufficient to guide the Lutheran Church 
in its relations to all forms of association, civil or religious, 
among men for the upbuilding of the good, the suppression of 
vice, the salvation of souls, and the development of character. 
But every claim must be tested on its own merits. 

SOME BROAD LIMITATIONS TO CO-OPERATION 

(1) Prudence, until a test as to the righteousness and feasi- 
bility of common action has become satisfactory, is an ordinary 
business principle. 

(2) Refusal to co-operate is not condemnation. There may be 
reasons why my neighbor's business, without any reflection on 
him, should ibe kept entirely separate from my own. He realizes 
that, and respects me for attending strictly to my own affairs ; 
and Christian business men must be made to realize that religion 
is at least as serious a thing as business. 

(3) There is a limit of human ability somewhere and at some 
time to co-operation toward that without. Neither nature nor 
grace confers unlimited energy on man. There is no such thing 
as an unlimited stewardship or trust. 

(4) Since co-operation with those outside of communion and 
fellowship is necessarily selective, refusal is not an indication of 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 271 

bigotry or narrowness. Dr. Trumbull has emphasized "The 
Duty of Refusing to do Good." 

(5) Specific religious work may be more effective without co- 
operation, for the following reasons : 

(a) Consolidated effort, especially of a loosely jointed char- 
acter, has its disadvantages and evils. The family is often better 
off, as a training institution, under its own vine and fig tree, 
than when joined with many others on the flat of a modern 
apartment house. The same is true of the Church and the school. 

(b) Large voluntary concerns, if not compactly organized, 
are as a rule less manageable, and more consumptive of energy, 
than small ones. It is the duty of the Church to conserve its 
energy, and use it with the least waste, though this often prevent 
a branching out into co-operative endeavor. 

(c) A decision once introduced, and very largely used, through- 
out the Church, especially if it be sound, is to be respected. 

(d) The Lutheran Church has introduced and established a 
fundamental precedent in co-operation: in working against the 
co-operation of its young people under Christian Endeavor, and 
for co-operation of its young people under Luther League. 

(e) It a second time established this principle, this time in the 
sphere of Sunday School work, in uniting four general bodies 
(General Synod, General Council, United Synod South, Joint 
Synod of Ohio) on common Lutheran picture charts (in place of 
International charts existing). 

(f) It has a third time established this precedent in the co- 
operation of two general bodies in the founding of a Lutheran 
Sunday School paper (in place of inter-denominational papers). 
The common liturgical work, and common co-operation in mission 
work, between several of these bodies, duly authorized, are pre- 
cedents in the same line. 

(g) On the other hand, there has never been established in a 
vital and organic or other than in a sporadic way a duly author- 
ized precedent in the opposite direction. 

(6) Co-operation is a mutual affair; and is based on the 
common consent of both parties, not of one only. 

(7) Co-operation, especially if it be inter-denominational, is 
of general body with general body; not of a general body on one 
side and a party or some individuals on the other. 



272 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

(8) An organization of individuals, each not authorized to 
represent a denomination, is not inter-denominational co-operation. 

(9) Inter-denominational co-operation does not carry with it 
the right of a general organization to enter a denomination by 
circular, letter, or in person, without consultation or permission 
of this denominational general organization; nor to give said 
denomination advice, instruction, or even "direct calls from God" 
which are at variance with the tbelief or practice of the said 
denominational general organization. 

(10) It is not inter-denominational co-operation for a general 
inter-denominational organization to intermingle its activities in 
a specific denominational field, with that of a general denomina- 
tional organization, without previous consultation and common 
action with the general denominational organization of which the 
congregation is a part. 

(11) It is not true co-operation for the outside co-operator 
to bring on a conflict of authority in any internal field. 

(12) It is not true co-operation for any individual, without 
authorization and the consent of the Church, to represent a 
national or state movement in behalf of a church, to which move- 
ment a large part of the church is opposed. 

(13) It is not true co-operation for an individual, to represent 
•in a general ecclesiastical field or in a denominational field both 
the general and the denominational work, when the denominational 
body through its regular representative withholds approval of 
the same. A church in its own field should have but one general 
policy, consistent and not self -conflicting. 

(14) This policy if it is to be carried out by an individual, 
should be determined before it is executed, and determined through 
the regular ecclesiastical channels. No ecclesiastical institution 
is strong enough to long endure a divided policy in its manage- 
ment, without great injury; and anything that' would impair its 
respect before itself and others, in a single line of irregular con- 
flict, will gradually extend to all lines. A church that knows not 
its own mind on a question of general policy is like a house 
divided against itself. 

(15) It is not true co-operation for an individual to represent 
both the inter-denominational and the denominational work, when 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 273 

the denominational body through its regular representatives with- 
holds approval of the same. 

SOME MOVEMENTS WITH WHICH LUTHERANS IN AMERICA CAN 
CO-OPERATE ON THE BASIS OF CIVIL RIGHTEOUSNESS 

(1) For the suppression of vice. 

(2) For good laws. 

(3) For the furtherance of patriotism. 

(4) For the poor, weak and criminal classes. 

(5) For schools, universities and professional institutes. 

(6) For scientific study of the truth, including ecclesiastical 
topics and the Scriptures. 

SOME MOVEMENTS WITH WHICH LUTHERANS IN AMERICA CAN 
CO-OPERATE ON THE BASIS OF A COMMON CHRISTIANITY 

(1) The maintenance of a Christian spirit in business, social 
and educational life. 

(2) The upholding of the principles of Christianity in the 
common law of our land. 

(3) The translation of the Scriptures. 

(4) The common use of hymns, books of devotion, and Litera- 
ture from which Lutheran principles are not bleached out; or 
un-Lutheran principles printed in. 

(5) The proper use of unobjectionable parts of the above. 

(6) Common institutions like the American Bible Society. But 
not the unconditional support of common institutions like the 
American Tract Society, or the American Sunday School Union, 
or the Federal Council of Churches, or the Y. M. C. A. The 
support of specific portions of such work might (be accomplished 
if it can be combined with the most positive testimony and action 
against unevangelical parts of its work. 

(7) In each of these cases, the movement is to be tested by the 
principles and actions laid down above. 

SOME REASONS WHY THE ORGANIZED INTER-DENOMINATIONAL 

TEACHING AND PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL IN CHURCH AND 

SCHOOL IS NOT POSSIBLE TO LUTHERANS IN AMERICA 

(1) Because Lutherans believe we are saved by faith alone; 
whereas many persons in Christian churches today believe and 
practically teach that works have a good deal to do with salva- 
tion. 

S 



274 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

(2) Because the Lutheran Church, the Mother of Protestantism, 
takes her stand only on differences of vital principle; whereas 
many Protestants divide from each other on grounds of customs, 
modes of administering ordinances, and method of church govern- 
ment; while they may undervalue the great things of inner 
principle. 

(3) Because Lutherans believe in a square, open, broad, deep 
life, rather than in one which is ecclesiastically diplomatic, which 
is courteous on the surface, and of an appropriative spirit beneath 
the surface. 

(4) Because the great and crucial Lutheran doctrine of the 
Word and the Sacraments is not generally acknowledged and 
solely (or even partially) used in many Evangelical movements. 

(5) Because Lutherans do not believe in prayer as a means 
of grace, or in many other human "means of grace" on which 
many inter-denominational movements rely. 

THE HISTORIC PRECEDENTS AGAINST THE ORGANIZED INTER- 
DENOMINATIONAL TEACHING OF THE GOSPEL 

(1) For Lutherans, Martin Luther is not a bad authority on 
this point. 

(2) In America, prior to Muhlenberg, the pious Justus Falckner 
in New York, the Rev. Berkenmeyer, and the Rev. John Caspar 
Stoever, are examples to the Church. The fate of the Old 
Swedes Church in Pennsylvania, and its total absorption into 
another denomination, points to what would have occurred in early 
American Lutheranism, if an inter-denominational co-operation 
had prevailed. 

(3) Muhlenberg from the day of his arrival in America to 
the day of his death, was opposed to inter-denominational co- 
operation. [He remarks that "this point needs explanation."] :. 

(4) The period when plans for denominational union were 
most strongly broached was the most critical period of the Luth- 
eran Church in the East. Had they been adopted, the Lutheran 
faith would have been eclipsed. 

(5) The historic American Synods, under great temptation, 
neither united with the Reformed Church, nor established what 
might have become the first and original Northfield in this country, 
and have shed its influences of Christianity throughout the land, 
two-thirds of a century earlier than any of its successors. 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 275 

This principle and its proper settlement involves the very life 
of the United Lutheran Church. As was said twenty years ago: 
"If our dear Church is to have any future before her, she cannot 
give up this principle. In doing so, she would give up herself." 



TWO GREAT LESSONS OF PROVIDENCE 

Providence has been teaching us anew and with compelling 
force the two great lessons of universality and individuality. St. 
Paul in his day declared that God made of one blood all the 
nations of the earth. And in these latter days, when the whole 
world is connected up closely in air, sea, and land to such an 
extent that national isolation, withdrawal, seclusion, or retreat. 
from all others has become impossible, and when the great powers 
of the world have come to the sober conclusion that a zvorld 
society of nations is inevitable, the lessons of providence to all 
mankind and to the Church itself are too plain to need explica- 
tion. On the other hand, by the very fact that a withdrawal 
from world activities can no longer be regarded as physically 
possible or morally right, it becomes all the more necessary to 
erect some barriers against a pitiless publicity and unwarranted 
intrusion into the just privacy to which every individual entity 
is justly entitled. The two principles at stake are first that man 
must share a common public life with all his fellows ; and that 
man is entitled all the more because of the universal publicity to 
certain rights for the development and exercise of his own indi- 
viduality. In national affairs these two lessons may be phrased 
as follows : First, the good will and welfare of all must be 
contributed to by each ; and secondly, the peculiar right of a people, 
no matter how small, if it be truly an individual nationality is 
entitled to its own self-determination. To put it briefly, the les- 
sons are : a stronger and more intimate participation by each in 
the affairs of all, and a guarding of the rights of even the weakest 
in those things in which they are entitled to be left alone. 

(1) The Lutheran Church should do all in her power to edu- 
cate her pastors and people in the two great lessons which Provi- 
dence is enforcing on us at this moment, viz., the universality of 
the Church of Christ, the Communion of Saints; and the strong 
individuality of our own Lutheran Communion. She should make 
clear the grounds, internal and fundamental, on which the uni- 



276 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

versality of Christ's Church is founded; and make equally clear 
the ground on which solely the Lutheran Church is entitled to her 
own individual existence, under the conviction that her principle 
best represents the universality of the Church. 

Lutheran pastors and people, and the whole Christian world 
outside of us, should also be educated to an appreciation of our 
right to individuality, by being caused to clearly understand it; 
and of our principle of co-operation. 

(2) That principle is as follows : Toward the Christians and 
Christian communions without us, we are to show neighborliness, 
to have intercourse and sympathy to the extent of our common 
Christianity, provided that this involve no special obligations, 
recognition or endorsement beyond what is actually in common. 
We may have dealings mutually advantageous of a common busi- 
ness character. We may enter into covenants on basal articles 
which in no wise compromise each other. We may enter into co- 
operation on lines of common policy provided that those with 
whom we co-operate formally, officially and practically recognize 
the bounds and limits, and that our own people are clearly taught 
them. 

We may enter into union with those with whom we are in 
the inner unity of fellowship and communion. This fellowship and 
communion is not a matter of our own determination, or of our 
feelings or tastes, but is a fact in Christ. It is determined toy a 
common participation in His pure Word and Sacraments which 
constitute our brotherhood in Him. 

We cannot unite in a supreme act of communion and fellow- 
ship which is not founded on the supreme and most real though 
most mysterious offer to us of Christ's organic body and His 
complete redemption. Communion and Fellowship are not marks 
of universality, or extension, but they are marks of the intimate 
sharing of inner life. They are not the broad basis but the 
personal and select culmination of inner fellowship. We have 
many brethren in Christ, but the Sacrament is the mark of special, 
complete, organic and perfect brotherhood, and not that of an 
external or any general brotherhood founded on sentiment or 
on human association. 

(3) It is the duty of the Lutheran Church to teach her pastors 
and people that fellowship implies life loyalty, is the sacred and 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 277 

intimate act of brotherhood which only arises between those who 
are spiritually at one, that it requires exclusive and life-long 
loyalty; and that it consequently does not admit of other 
fellowships whose principles, purposes and practices are 
based on a different view of this life, or of eternal 
life, or of the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Hence 
fellowships that are outside of the Church of Christ, and yet 
require a life loyalty, except those specifically recognized by our 
Lord, viz., in the case of the family and of the state, are a 
partial surrender of our life loyalty to Him, and hence should 
not be entered into. There is only one divine fellowship for the 
Christian, and that is in Christ. Fellowships demanding life loy- 
alty as offered iby human associations in life membership in human 
organizations and fraternities, whatever be their good or their 
bad teachings, are at variance with our complete and absolute 
surrender, and our perfect incorporation into the body of our 
Lord. Minister and people alike should say, "I am determined 
to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified." "That I 
should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of 
Christ ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the 
mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid 
in God, Who created all things by Jesus Christ" (Eph. 4:9, 10). 

Hence "our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son 
Jesus Christ" (John 3:3). 

"That we may be found in Him, not having our own righteous- 
ness, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteous- 
ness which is of God by faith; that we may know Him, and the 
power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering" 
(Phil. 3:9, 10). 

"God is faithful by Whom we were called by fellowship of His 
Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I ibeseech you, brethren, by the 
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, 
and that there be no divisions among you ; but that ye be per- 
fectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment" 
(1 Cor. 1:10, 11). 



THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS 
(From a letter dated June 16, 1915) 
It is exceptionally important for the Lutheran Church to stand 



278 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

for the true conception of the duty and work of the Church in 
the present day, when, under the influence of scientific social ideas, 
and the weakening of all doctrinal principle, including particu- 
larly the facts of divine grace, the operation of the Holy Spirit 
through the Word alone, the atonement, justification by faith 
alone, and similar fundamental spiritual truths, the tendency is 
to make of the Church a social community, almost identical with a 
perfect civic community, and to load upon it all the moral respon- 
sibilities of civic life. 

The historical and social philosophy of our colleges interprets 
Christianity as valuable only when it serves the community. Its 
chief activities are regarded as being philanthropic. Its great 
olbject is the creation of a new and better human race on earth, 
and a great human brotherhood, into which all the better elements 
of every community are to be gathered irrespective of denomina- 
tional faith. 

The real aim of the Church, according to this view, degenerates 
into social and political betterment, and into civic righteousness. 
The individual, with his immortal life, is depressed for the benefit 
of the common social state, and the Church's chief use and end 
is found in the local uplift it gives to every specific locality, and 
to the higher grade of state and national issues. 

This is an interpretation completely in harmony with the new 
science of social economy, represented especially by the two 
socialistic writers, Prof. Rauschenbusch of Rochester, and Prof. 
Vedder of Crozer. To them Christ is the representative of a 
purely social religion, and Christianity's chief duty today is to 
help in abolishing red light districts, eliminating tuberculosis, 
furthering eugenics, forbidding child labor, introducing pure drug 
laws, eliminating corruption from politics, and preventing men 
from becoming drunkards. The welfare of society is the funda- 
mental conditioning factor of the Church's present outlook and 
duty. 

But while much can be gathered from Scripture to support 
this teaching, Scripture itself, interpreted as a whole, by no means 
supports it. In Scripture the spiritual and not the social life is 
supreme. 

Christianity even as far as it is social, does not find its great 
motive in economic or external moral interests. There is a great 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 279 

difference ibetween the preaching of John the Baptist and the 
preaching of Jesus in this respect. The Apostle Paul's treatment 
of Onesimus, whom he sent back to Philemon, shows how social 
questions are to be dealt with. Paul had no social program for 
changing human society by the prohibition of slavery. He over- 
came the evil of slavery in this case through the power of spir- 
itual brotherhood, and not through the law. The abolition of 
slavery was an effect of Christianity, but not its aim. 

The social results of Christianity are the result of its religious 
powers, and the Church exists to maintain, sustain, and propagate 
its religious powers. Christianity does not seek to change society 
first, and thus remove sin by the pressure of social environment. 
Christianity seeks to eliminate sin through justification and re- 
generation, and thus to reform society by the new and inner life 
of the individual. 

In other words, Christianity and the Kingdom of God are a 
new society or communion of a spiritual order. And this spiritual 
order is the main thing. To make the spiritual order culminate 
in an external civic order is the mistake of our age. It leads to 
an emphasis on the externals of life, and this leads to an elimi- 
nation of the chief mission of Jesus Christ. 

(From a letter in reply to one from Prof. Walter Rauschen- 
busch) : 

We do believe in a vigorous and thorough treatment of social 
questions iby Christians in the State, but we believe that this 
work should be done by them as citizens, and not as Christians. We 
do not believe it to be the province of the Church to enter as a 
Church upon the problems of society or of the body politic. We 
believe in the old-fashioned doctrine, which is good also for 
America, of the complete separation of the functions of Church 
and State, and in the training of the people in the Church to 
such a point of principle and of conscience as that they will 
carry their Christianity into the State. We believe that the 
organization of the Church for the passage of society measures 
bears many evils in its train, not the least of which ultimately is 
the Roman principle of the right of the spiritual power to rule 
legally over society. 



280 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

ON CHRISTMAS 
There is no religion, but one, with a festival whose center is 
child-life. Christmas is always fresh. The world grows old, 
but Christmas never. The world weaves around itself an annual 
shell of selfishness. Christmas comes to shatter it. Glory, peace, 
good-will is the song of the season. 



THE TRICKY CONTROVERSIALIST 

In controversy, the victory is not always to the deserving. There 
are antagonists which a noble and fair mind can not afford to 
engage. An unscrupulous and mean-minded combatant will al- 
ways be seeking and seizing small advantages, evading direct 
issues, and gliding away under cover of personalities. He will 
be venturesomely wicked in the unblushing use of mendacious 
sarcasm, knowing that it is impossible for a noble man to stoop 
to similar retort. He will carry the issue away from the main 
question, to a very unexpected and perhaps a personal quarter. 
The tricky contestant can have the truthful-minded man completely 
at his mercy. It will be impossible to explain and unravel all 
his interposed innuendoes, without becoming so tedious and dif- 
fuse that the public will no longer be willing to' listen. The more 
indignant you wax the more assiduously will he continue the 
worriment. It is the old story of the fly and the elephant. Never 
argue with a mean mind. 



ON POSSIBILITIES OF UNION 
If Presbyterianism may be summed up, philosophically, as con- 
sistency of thought combined with fixity of government, and 
Episcopalianism may be summed up as public organism of re- 
ligious life with authority of worship, and Lutheranism may be 
summed up as proclamation of the authoritative Word of God 
bringing justification, and Methodism may ibe summed up as 
practical organization for generating spiritual experience and 
cultivating Christian fruits, these Anabaptist reactions against 
the historic ecclesia, Protestant as well as Roman, may perhaps 
be summed up as fixity of New Testament fact and ordinance, 
with liberty of interpretation and organization. The Presbyterian 
idea is theological, logical and political. The Episcopal idea is 



ON LIVE QUESTIONS AND ISSUES 281 

political, institutional and liturgical. The Lutheran idea is theo- 
logical, spiritual and practical. The Methodist idea is experen- 
tial, methodic and practical. The Anabaptist idea is primitive, 
ceremonial (as to ordinances), without perspective, and practical. 

When the Faith and Order movement toivard union of the 
Episcopal Church requested his co-operation as President of the 
General Council, he wrote to its secretary in 1910 as follozus : 

In the correspondence with the secretary of the Commission, I 
said on ibehalf of the General Council, that we agree with the 
Commission "that the beginnings of unity are to be found in the 
clear statement of those things in which we differ, as well as of 
those things in which we are at one;" and that we are in accord 
with the Commission in the desire "to lay aside self-will, and to 
put on the mind which is in Christ Jesus;" that, however, we do 
not regard "Faith" and "Order" as being on the same essential 
plane; that we do not believe that a Unity of "Order," or the 
union of the Church Visible, i. e., of ecclesiastical denominations, 
is the unity to which our Saviour referred in His prayer to the 
Father ; that we do not believe that there is any unity in the 
Church which is not a unity in principle; that we do not believe 
that unity in the Faith can be reached by any agreement to agree; 
that we do not regard a unity of government or of order, or that 
"outward and visible reunion" of Christendom which is the ulti- 
mate object of this Conference, as important, or as desirable, in 
advance of a unity of principle; that our branch of the Lutheran 
Church is very conservative and will not yield on its principles 
of faith ; that we do not look on other Protestants as rivals, 
from whose ranks we should make proselytes ; that we believe 
in acting on our faith as a matter of conscience, until such a 
time, if the Lord brings it about as the conscience of Christians 
be cleared to hold the same faith; and that, meantime, we do not 
regard an externally divided Protestantism as a disgrace to Chris- 
tendom, in so far as differences are a matter of faith and con- 
science; and that an official invitation to co-operate in this move- 
ment would probably be referred to a committee of our body to 
be considered fundamentally and report at a later stage. 



INDEX OF PERSONS 



Abrahamson, L. G. M., D.D 173. 209 

Benze, C. T., D.D .127, 180, 224 

Berkemeier, G. C, D.D 152 

Berkemeyer, H 274 

Brandelle, G. A., D.D 209, 228 

Carlsson, Erland 173 

Christ, Father, Lebanon Roman Priest 105 

Croll, P. C. 74 

Demme, Dr. C. R 3 

Dunbar, W. H., D.D 115 

Egle, Dr. W. H 70 

Esbjorn, C. M 173 

Evgen, Rev. Dr 175 

Falckner, Justus 274 

Fischer, Emil E., D.D 13, 186 

Frick, Rev. W. K., D.D 166 

Fritchel, Drs. Sigmund and Gottlieb 156 

Fry, F. F., D.D 208 

Geissinger, D. H., D.D 140 

Getz, Rev. Arthur H 13, 188 

Grandparents, Deaths of . 43 

Haas, John A. W., D.D., LL.D 100, 229 

Hark, J. Max 61, 71 

Harms, Claus, on 18 17 Celebration 192 

Hasselquist, T. N 173 

Haupt, Dr. Lewis M 15 

Haws, Mrs. G. W 16 

Hensel, Hon. W. U., of Lancaster 101 

Hingel, Catherine 3 

Hoffman, Dr. Emil 156 

Horn, Edward T., D.D., LL.D 127, 186 

Houck, Henry 10 

Hunton, W. L-, D.D 13 

Jacobs, H. E., D.D., LL.D '..13, 34, 133, 180, 184, 209, 224 

Jacobs, C. M., D.D 217 

Keiter, W. D. C, D.D 147, 201, 208, 217 

Keyser, Leander S., D.D 126, 133, 176 

Knubel, F. H., D.D., LL.D 195, 203, 213, 229 

Kohler, Rev. Dr. J no 

Koons, Prof., of Swatara 10 

Krauss, Prof. Elmer F., D.D 217 

Krauth, Charles Porterfield, D.D., LL.D 15, 34, 181 

Krotel, Gottlieb F„ D.D., LL.D 1 



284 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

Leibensperger, A. W 219 

Lindiberg, C. E., D.D., I<I,,D 209 

Loy, Martin, D.D 253 

L,uther, Martin 274 

Lyte, Prof. E. 70 

Mann, William Julius 2 

McKinley, Sermon on Death of 97 

Miller, Mr. E. Clarence 197 

Morris, Dr. J. G 10 

Muhlenberg, Dr. F. A 15 

Muhlenberg, Henry Melchior 274 

Nicum, J., D.D 176 

Norelius, Dr. E 163, 173 

Otto, Robert 1 

Paulsen, Pastor of Kropp, Germany 150 

Pfatteicher, Ernest P., D.D 1 1 1 

Proehl, Prof., of Dubuque Seminary 157 

Rauschenbusoh, Prof. Walter 279 

Reinoehl, George H no 

Repass, S. A., D.D 140 

Richards, Captain H. M. M 96 

Richard, Prof. J. W 175, 180 

Rommel, Hon. Edmund 106 

Rubrecht, G. Keller 217 

Sadtler, Dr. S. P 15 

Sandt, G. W., D.D 82 

Schaeffer, William Ashmead, D.D 140 

Schaff, Dr. Phillip 2 

Schlegelmilch, G. E., Esq , 181 

SChantz, F. J. F., D.D 74, 139 

Schmauk, Benjamin Friedrich 1 

Schmauk, B. W., Death of 1, 3, 4, 109 

Schmauk, Miss Emma 7, 244, 245 

Schmauk, Johann Gottfried 1 

Schmauk, Theresa 2, 7, 44 

Schmauk, Wilhelmina Catherine 4, 139 

Schuette, President of Joint Synod 161 

Seip, Frank M , . no 

Shimer, Dr., Assistant Superintendent of Schools in N. Y. on S. S. 

lesson System 90 

Singmaster, J. A., D.D., LE.D 199 

Spaeth, Adolph, D.D., IX. D 152 

Stahr, John F., D.D 70 

Stellhorn, F. W., D.D 179 

Stewart, Dr. George B., of Auburn, N. Y . 61 

Stoever, John Caspar 274 

Stub, Rev. H. G, President of N. L. C 218 

Stump, Joseph, D.D 217 

Taft, Ex-President Wm. H 101 

Thompson, Dr. Robert Ellis 18, 21 



INDEX 285 

Trumbull, H. Clay 55 

Voigt, A. G., D.D., LL.D 20 

Warfield, Dr., of Lafayette College 61 

Waters, Oren J., M.D 54 

Weller, H. A., D.D 195. 201, 208, 217 

Zimmerman, Hon. J. L 197 



INDEX OF PLACES 



Annville, Congregation at 47 

Atlantic City, Joint Committee on Quadricentennial meets in, Sept. 

if 1914 • 193 

Buffalo Convention of General Council 127 

Catasauqua, Pa., Supply Pastor at Trinity 33 

Chicago, 111., Dr. Schmauk Presenting S. S. Literature in 91 

Chicago, 111., Meeting of National Council 217 

Dubuque, Iowa, General Synod at 175 

Gettysburg, Theological Seminary at 3 

Harrisburg, Pa 201, 217, 221 

Holland, Sailed from, in 1819 1 

Lancaster, Pa 3 

Lebanon, A Paradise 40 

Lebanon, Pa., Father Called to 6 

Lebanon, St. James Mission 47 

Lebanon, Trinity Mission 46 

Milwaukee, Wis., Convention at 117 

Minneapolis, Minn., Convention at 163 

Mt. Gretna, Chautauqua Grounds at 60 

Mount Lebanon Cemetery 224 

New York, The Convention in 211 

Norristown, Pa., Convention of General Council 117 

Orphans' Home at Germantown 3 

Passavant Hospital, Milwaukee, Wis 54 

Pennsylvania, Student at University of 15 

Philadelphia, Ancestors Landed in 1 

Philadelphia, Pa., Jubilee Meeting of G. C 208 

Philadelphia Seminary, Student at 26 

Pittsburgh, Pa 124, 194, 217 

Salem, Lebanon, Pa., Call Accepted 39 

Swatara Institute 10 

Toledo Convention 1 67 

United States Commissioner of Education Recognizes Graded System 92 

Waterloo Seminary, Canada 154 

Wuertemburg, Germany, Home of Forebears 1 

Zion Church, Philadelphia, Pa 2 

Zion's-St. Michael's Parish, Philadelphia 3 



286 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

GENERAL INDEX 



Administrative Problems 141 

Alliances 263 

Altar Fellowship 203 

Apologetics, Interpretation of 181, 185 

Art, Knowledge of Ecclesiastical 113 

Atlantic Coast Lutheranism, Wants No 169, 200 

Augustana Brethren and Dr. Schmauk's Mutual Attachment 172 

Augustana College 1 72 

Augustana Synod 161, 164, 172, 200, 209, 228 

Author of What Books 234 

Benjamin Rush's Account of German Inhabitants of Pennsylvania, 

Annotated 234 

Bible Biography, 1901 89 

Bible Facts and Scenes, 1906 89, 234 

Bible Geography, 1899 89, 234 

Bible History, 1898 88, 234 

Bible Literature, 1903 89 

Bible Outlines, 1912 89 

Bible Readings, 1905 89 

Bible Story, 1897 88 

Bible Teachings 89 

Books That Influenced 22 

Books, Two Latest 221 

Born at Lancaster, Pa 6 

Boyhood Characteristics 8 

British Propaganda, Dr. Schmauk on 105 

Buoyancy of Spirit 221 

Calls Considered at Graduation 37 

Camp Pastors 196 

Canada Synod 208 

Catechetical Outlines 234 

Catholic Lutheranism 130 

Catholicity, The Declaration on 202 

Centennial of Old Salem Church no 

Centennial Exposition 16 

Centipede Literary Society n 

Chaplains 196 

Chairman of Ways and Means, Presides Over Consummation of Union 212 

Conversation, "Charms and Secrets of Good" 51 

Chautauqua, The Pennsylvania *. 60, 64 

Christ in the General Council , 128 

Christ, Person of 237 

Church Book Committee, Member of 81 

Church Year, Observance of 84 

Citizen 94 

Civil Righteousness, Co-operation on Basis of 273 



INDEX 287 

Coalitions, Against 209 

Common Christianity, Co-operation on the Basis of 273 

Common S. S. Literature for Lutherans, Planned, 1897 85 

Common Service Book, Service Rendered as Estimated by Dr. H. E. 

Jacobs 81 

Common Ground for Relationships 266 

Community Welfare 96 

Confession and Defence of Christian Faith, Chair of 183 

Confessional High Water Mark 127 

Confessional History of the Lutheran Church 180 

Confessionalism 247 

Confidential Dealing 215 

Confessional Principle 179, 234 

Confirmed at Fifteen 12 

Conservative Body, General Council the One 119 

Conservatism, Progressive 249 

Constitution, Fifteen Points to be Considered 201 

Constitution of United Lutheran Church 200 

Constitution, Suggested Addition to 170 

Controversialist, The Tricky 280 

Conversation, Charms and Secrets of Good 234 

Co-operation 136, 175, 204, 216, 258, 263, 267, 269, 270 

Correspondence, Voluminous and Brilliant 219, 220 

Courses Offered by Dr. Schmauk 187 

Critical and Anxious Days 52 

Death, March 23, 1920 223 

Death, Serious Losses by 138 

Delaware Water Gap on Foot 28 

Denominations, Lutheran Church's Relation to 80 

Differences and Difficulties, Facing 203 

Disunity, Lutheran 255 

Editor and Author 79 

Editor and Chairman of Sunday School Work, 1899 84 

Editorial Survey of the Year 80 

Education, Symposium on 80 

Educator, Schmauk as 60 

Estimates of Dr. Schmauk 229 

Ethics, Definition of 181 

European Relief 221 

Evangelism, Declaration on Modern 121 

Expansion, Era of 45 

Faith and Practice, Chicago Conference on 218 

Faith, Matter of Deep Concern, in 1919 220 

Father's Affection for Young Theodore 7 

Father's Letter on 21st Birthday 31 

Federal Council 203 

Federal Council, Plan for a Lutheran 217 

Federation and Unity of Unities Differentiated 198 

Federation, a Proposed Constitution for 202 

Federation Movement 171, 200 



288 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

Fellowship 138, 264 

First Sermon to Salem Congregation 43 

Foreign Church, The Lutheran Church not a 107 

Foreign Mission Field, Division Advocated by Swedes 167 

Founders, Passing Away of General Council . 118 

Four Points 253 

Freedom of Action Asked and Guaranteed 215 

Funeral Services 223 

General Conference of Lutherans, 1904 124 

General Council Golden Jubilee 208 

General Council, Permanency of 120 

General Council, President of 81, 117 

General Council Representatives at National Council Meeting, Chi- 
cago, Sept. 6, 1918 217 

General. Council Sunday School Plans Date Back to 1869 85 

General Synod, Co-operation with 133, 174 

General Synod, Delegate to 114 

General Synod Invited to Co-operate in Quadricentennial 193 

General Synod in Washington in 191 1 135 

Germans, Dr. Schmauk and the 147 

Germans, Keeping in Sympathy with Merger 207 

German Synods, Attitude of 200 

German Translations 89 

Graded Instruction Plans Formulated in 1888 84 

Graded System Completion Announced at Lima, O 116 

Graded Sunday School Instruction, Pioneer in 84 

Graded System, Development of 88 

Heart-Broken, Booklet on Death of Sister 45, 234 

Heart Glow Papers 50 

Historical Precedent Against Interdenominational Teaching 274 

Historian, Schmauk as 66 

History of Old Salem Church 1 1 1 

Home Mission Board's Actions in the Northwest 168 

How to Teach in Sunday School 234 

Hypnotism 4S> 234 

Indicator, Founder and Editor of 29 

In Mother's Arms, 1910 90, 234 

Improvements in Graded Instruction Planned 92 

Influences During Student Days 24 

Ingersoll, Sermons on 45 

Inspiration at Pittsburgh, Articles on 125 

Interchurch World Movement 221 

Interdenominational Teaching and Preaching Not Possible to Lutherans 273 

International Lessons Begun in 1873 86 

International System, Dr. Schmauk on Basic Difference 86 

Iowa and Ohio Theses at Toledo 160 

Iowa Synod, Relations with 156 

Issues and Engagements of 1919 22 ° 

Japanese Translations • 89 

Joint Synod of Ohio , l 79 



INDEX 289 

Kindergarten, The Christian 234 

Lancaster Convention on Quadricentennial 193 

Languages, S. S. Literature in Other 85 

Life, Closing of a Strenuous 219 

Lebanon County Historical Society 74 

Lebanon High School Graduates, Historical Address to 66 

Lebanon Valley, Early Churches of 234 

Letter to Father, Oct. 18, 1880 27 

Liberty Loan Drives, Orator for 104 

Library, Work in Seminary 28 

Lima Resolutions on Co-operation 115 

Literary Activities Begin 49 

Literary Editor of The Lutheran 83 

Lodge, The 256 

Luther and the New Theology 248 

Lutheran Church Review, Editor of 79 

Lutheran Church, an American Church 106 

Lutheranism in America Classified 176 

Manitoba Synod 208 

Marriage of Parents 3 

Melanchthon and the Church Fathers 80 

Men's Organizations 144 

Merger, Dr. Schmauk's Ideal of Stated 205 

Merger, Working for 207 

Minneapolis Convention on Quadricentennial 192 

Minnesota Conference of the Augustana Synod 163 

Missions, Call as Superintendent of 47 

Mission Chapels 46 

Missouri Synod 196, 253 

Mother, Death of 139 

Movements, Great and General 203 

National Lutheran Council 216, 218 

Nature Lover 13 

Negative Criticism 58, 234 

Negative Critics, Tendency Toward Among Younger Scholars 124 

Negative Theology 245 

Neighborliness 262 

New Theology, Luther and the 248 

New York Ministerium 208 

Norelius Resolution, Disposition of 165 

Ohio Synod 253 

Organ and Its History ^ 113 

Parents, Companions 7 

Participation in the Common Welfare, Stages of 262 

Pastoral Work 47, 219 

Pastorate, Early Pastorate with Father in Lebanon 37 

Patriot and Public Speaker 94 

Pennsylvania Germans, Defence of 69 

Pennsylvania-German Society, Organization of 70 

Pennsylvania, History of the Lutheran Church in 334 

T 



290 THEODORE EMANUEL SCHMAUK 

Pennsylvania Ministerium's Steps to Care for Soldiers 195 

Personality, Towering 212 

Philosophy, Under Dr. Krauth 21 

Physician's Advice 223 

Politician, Not a 210 

Positions Held in the Church 183, 233 

Positions Outside of the Church 234 

President of The United Lutheran Church, Election of First 212 

Primary Department, The Three Grade 89 

Prize as Popular Pastor Refused 46 

Prize Contests, Competes in ' 20 

Providence, Two Great Lessons of 275 

Public Schools, Interest in 95 

Pulpit Fellowship 203, 256 

Pulpit, Prevalent Errors in 80 

Pulpits, Lutheran for Lutheran Ministers 253 

Quadricentennial 172, 192, 193 

Quadricentennial Committee, Dr. Schmauk Chairman of 194 

Questions and Issues, Dr. Schmauk on Live 235 

Red Cross Workers 196 

Reformation, Quadricentennial of 192 

Relationships, Lutheran Church and External 262 

Religious Education and Child Psychology, Biography 231 

Resolutions in Diary 12 

Revival Movements, Dangers to Lutherans in 203, 260 

Salem, Lebanon, History of 234 

Salem, Memorial Chapel 111 

Salvation, Lutheran Conception of 246 

Schieren Professorship 184 

School, Young Schmauk at 8 

Scriptures, General Council and the 132 

Scripture Lesson Quarterlies for Seniors on Church Year Plan 85 

Secret Orders 203 

Seminary Board, President of 182, 184 

Seminary Professor 181, 183 

Sermon at Funeral 224 

Sermon, Dr. Schmauk's Last 221 

Social Problems, The Church and 27J 

Societies Un-Christian 258 

Sorrow, Expressions of 228 

Spanish Translations 89 

Spiritual Life, Influences Which Deepened the 35 

Sunday School Board, Strenuous Meeting 221 

Sunday School Graded System, Revision of, Weighed Heavily .... 220 

Sunday School Leader 79 

Sunday School Times, Contributor to 55 

Sunday School Work 221, 231 

Swedes, Efforts to Influence 207 

Swedish Translations 89 

Teacher in Allentown High School 33 



INDEX 291 

Teaching, Methods of 188 

Teacher Training Quarterly, 1914 93 

Telugu Translations 89 

Text of Last Sermon 221 

Timidity as a Child 9 

Trinity, The Doctrine of the 240 

Unification or Federation, Which 196 

Union 264 

Union, Definite Plan for 198 

Union, Difficulties in the way of 177 

Union, Drs. Schmauk and Jacobs Opposed to Sudden 199 

Union Favored in Meeting April 18 196, 199 

Union, Influence in Meeting, April 18 199 

Union, Lutheran 251 

Union, Possibilities of 280 

United Lutheran Church in America Declared a Reality 312 

United Lutheran Church, Testing Period of 220 

United Synod, South Invited to Co-operate 193 

Uniting the Whole Lutheran Church, A Far-reaching Question 201 

Unity 203, 265 

Vagaries and Unsettled States, Matters of Concern 220 

Versatility Illustrated 23 

Village Blacksmith Letters 49 

Voice in Speech and Song 51, 234 

War Commission, Origin of the Lutheran 195 

War, Dr. Schmauk During the 104 

Wartburg Castle, Ivy from 113 

War, the World War, Effect on Quadricentennial Plans 194 

Ways and Means Committee, Chairman of 207 

Will, Freedom of the 244 

Women's Missionary Society 146 

Women's Organizations 144 

Worker, a Methodical 219 

World, The Lutheran, on Buffalo Convention 134 

Y. M. C. A 203 



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